Innovation SDG labs

A global community offering free and quality education to African children living in remote areas including a new SDG curriculum. 

1. African kids living in remote areas still lack a quality education. In most cases schools don't have power supply. Teachers are often poorly trained in African refugee camps. But also in a more broad context, formal education is often limited to knowledge acquisition, memorization and examination. There is very little interaction and collaboration between students from different schools and even classrooms. The UN Sustainable Development Goals strive to make the world a better place but very few schools are focussing on these schools during classes. 

2. I will start building SDG innovation labs/schools in remote African areas in collaboration with Dr. Jane Goodall. Each lab ($8000) will be equipped with laptop, tv, internet connection and educational resources. A global community of 1000 teachers across 85 countries will teach African students via Skype. We will create a new curriculum based on SDGs and STEAM. I also developed a solar suitcase ($300) which brings free power supply to one school. One African teacher will guide the lessons. We will shift to alternative learning approaches (collaborative learning, learning by doing, etc) with instruction. The classes will allow students from around the world to connect with African kids and this will cause a strong synergy in which they gain intercultural understanding. Apart from teaching there will be the opportunity to speak about culture, habits and hobbies. We will also be able to train local teachers. Last but not least, Goodall's Roots and Shoots may be use our new SDG curriculum in all 140 countries. We will use a video conferencing platform which allows to keep track of quantitative data. Apart from that we will collect quantitative data to evaluate progress. Last but not least there will be a collaboration between the innovation SDG labs.

I already have one lab in the Kakuma refugee camp and we have been able to teach 3 times a week during the past year in the most difficult circumstances. I already have a community of 1000 teachers in 6 continents willing to teach and develop curriculum (for free). The solar suitcase has been tested for 1 year and proves to be a game changer. Thanks to Goodall's support and other public figures, the impact will be more than local. The past project were covered by media across 35 countries and were supported by Dalai Lama, Unesco, Greenpeace, Charlize Theron, Cern, OECD, etc. None of the previous projects were funded apart from crowdfunding.  www.projectkakuma.com - www.innovation-project.info

3. 

- offering quality education in remote areas

- train teachers in African countries

- changing teachers' mindsets about effective learning and offering them a platform so they are able to exchange thoughts, approaches and best practices

- changing global students' mindsets about African people and refugees by allowing them to have an informal chat

- bringing power supply to remote schools

- introducing schools across 6 continents to the UN SDGs

1/ The solar suitcase is a new application of an existing technology: solar panels. The suitcase bundles a foldable solar panel and a battery and makes it mobile so it can be brought to every school in the area which requires power supply. 

2/ On the other hand there's the process of teaching SDGs, connecting students around the world and shifting to innovative learning approaches aiming to make learning globally more effective. Teachers have to realize students needs to be in the center of their learning process. Students can learn in very different ways.  

1/ without the solar suitcase there will be no power supply

2/ thanks to a video conferencing tool (Skype, Empatico, Belouga or TeachMeKnow) we can make the connections between students and teachers across the world.

3/ a website will be developed to share outcomes.

4/ Educational resources like Lego, Minecraft, etc will allow students to learn in maker spaces: to play music instruments via apps, learn to code via Lego Wedo 2.0, learn to build prototypes and express feelings via Minecraft, etc.  Lego and Microsoft will be shipping educational materials.

Launching 3 innovation labs at Jane Goodall's reserves in Tanzania and Congo. In each lab 4 groups of 20 students will be involved and 1 teacher guiding those students. Since the lab will be mobile, we also can involve schools in the capital Dar es Salaam. We will gradually increase the amount of students involved. 

A partner based in several African countries is able to manufacture the solar suitcases on a large scale.

In the next 3 to 5 years I aim to have innovation sdg labs in at least 15 African countries, targeting +10K students, involving 1M students (using curriculum and connecting to innovation labs) around the world and increasing awareness about SDG. 

A global community of 1000 educators/volunteers will create new SDG curriculum and will offer online lessons. 

The solar suitcase will need to be manufactured in Africa (to avoid shipping costs). This will be in collaboration with Close The Gap or Edukans. 

Currently 3 schools in the Kakuma refugee camp are using 1 mobile lab. Every school involves 200 students. UNHCR and the Lutheran World Federation are supporting and guiding the project at the Kakuma side. 

We keep track of all online lessons, topics (official Kenyan curriculum) and teachers involved. We do interviews with teachers and students in the Kakuma camp. We also compare 2 groups' grades: 1 group involved in the project and one which isn't.  

Depends how many labs I can launch. Every lab will serve at least 100 students. I will start by launching 3 labs in September. 

We have 20ambassadors in 6continents searching for new teachers and coordinating in their area. We have a community of 1000teachers willing to teach &develop curriculum (voluntarily). We have a group of technicians able to find solutions and developing solar suitcases. We have a 3 Canadians who are in contact with public figures, organizations, etc. We have experts in pedagogy and a web developer.In the Kakuma refugee camp we have officials and one refugee consultant taking care of ICT issues and training teachers. We have strong connections with several communities like National Certified Educators, Microsoft Expert Educators, TeachSDGs...

1: Organizations are offering donations and CSR for which they are offered several marketing opportunities

2: Via crowdfunding we are able to pay for internet bundles and the refugee consultant's wage

3: The solar suitcase will be developed in Africa by Close the Gap and/or Edukans (still in negotiation). They will donate $100 for each case which will be donated to African schools. One solar suitcase should work at least for 5 years. 

4: We are making contracts with partners which are thrust worthy like UNHCR, Jane Goodall Institute, Roots and Shoots, etc. and we are aware of corruption and how to fight against it.  

We can do a lot with a very small budget. So far people have been charmed by the fact we are teaching African refugees for free via Skype but now we were able to develop our own lab including our very own solar suitcase and curriculum, while being supported by African governments, we believe we really can make a difference. We need new contacts and funding. 

Basically funding and exposure.