BLAST! - Fostering Youth Social Inclusion through Blockchain for Sustainability

Background The BLAST project was applied for with the aim of helping the social inclusion of young people through the development of a non-formal learning programme on Sustainability issues and how blockchain and other emergent technologies can assist on those issues. The BLAST! project has delivered the following results: 1. BLAST! Curriculum for Sustainable Revolution through Blockchain (Intellectual Output 1) following a non-formal education methodology, which is available in English, Portuguese, Turkish and Dutch. This curriculum considers six learning units, namely: a) Climate change b) Natural disasters c) Biodiversity loss d) Ocean health deterioration e) Air pollution and f) Water scarcity 2. BLAST! Learning programme, considers state of the art digital video-based learning materials, developed with a digital story telling approach, in bite sized units, on the topics of sustainable revolution. The videos are available in EN, PT, TR and NL, with voice over and subtitles 3. Good practices webinar for the implementation of the BLAST! Programme - a series of webinars to share their experiences, best practices, and learnings regarding the BLAST! learning pilot implementation. Objectives In the project application it stated "The project objectives are to develop a state of the art non-formal learning programme, complemented with video-based digital learning through digital Story telling to enhance youth engagement." The project has succeeded in this overall objective and progressed the following secondary objectives: - Increase Social inclusion: the project sought to empower young people to become active and engaged members of society. - Increase Youth Empowerment: Another objective of the project is to empower young people with knowledge and skills related to sustainability and emerging technologies like blockchain and DLT. - Environmental Impact: The project's focus on addressing environmental challenges through technology seeks to achieve a more sustainable future. - Innovation in Education: The project sought to innovate in the field of education by developing and testing new teaching methodologies, such as digital storytelling and video-based learning materials. - Knowledge Sharing: The project sought to share its findings and outcomes with a wider audience, including other educational institutions, policymakers, and organisations interested in promoting youth empowerment and sustainability Implementation The main activity that was implemented was the development of IO1 BLAST! Curriculum for Sustainable Revolution through Blockchain which was an activity that ran for the duration of the project. IO2 (the non-formal education methodology) and IO3 (Learning programme) fed into IO1. The BLAST Pilot programmes were run in Ireland, Portugal and Turkey which used the materials developed in IO1, IO2 and IO3. O4 was a series of webinars that focussed on the various Learning Units of the BLAST! programme and learnings and good practices from the pilots. The main activities implemented on the project were thus: O1: BLAST Curriculum for Sustainable Revolution through Blockchain O2: BLAST! non-formal education methodology for Sustainable Revolution O3: BLAST! Learning programme O4: Good practices webinar for the implementation of the BLAST! Programme C1 - BLAST! Learning Experience for youth workers/leaders Achievements The project developed BLAST Curriculum for Sustainable Revolution through Blockchain which includes the BLAST methodology and BLAST learning programme. Six videos were developed as part of the project - BLAST - Blockchain Applications for Air Pollution - BLAST - Blockchain Supporting Natural Disasters Relief Actions - BLAST - Building Trust to Fight Biodiversity Loss with Blockchain - BLAST - Climate Change and How Could Blockchain Slow It Down - BLAST - Using Blockchain to Stop the Decline of Ocean Health - BLAST - Using Blockchain in Efforts to Solve Water Scarcity Three BLAST Pilot programmes were run in Ireland, Portugal and Turkey with a total of 111 youth participants in the pilots. A series of three BLAST webinars focused on the various sustainability topics were run during May 2023. Four Multiplier Events in Ireland, Portugal, Netherlands and Turkey were run to disseminate the leanings and outputs of the BLAST project.