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Use Case
Quality Education
Sustainable Cities And Communities
The complexity of sustainable development topics requires new methods of citizen engagement. The aim of the Buddy Class concept is to engage local youngsters through active collaboration with local schools in the development of their own neighbourhoods on a long-term time scale, and simultaneously educate and learn with/from the youngsters about the topics of sustainability, especially in the themes of energy and mobility systems and how they affect the neighbourhood. The Buddy Class activities also facilitates active dialogue between the pupils and the project workers and can provide new important insight and information for the development processes of sustainable and smart solutions.
Two school classes from two upper comprehensive schools from Espoonlahti district were selected as Buddy Classes for SPARCS in Espoo. The Buddy Classes focused on the Lippulaiva project area (with Citycon in the lead) as a new local urban centre, and the Espoonlahti area in general (with City of Espoo in the lead). The Buddy Classes commenced in August 2020 when the pupils began their 7th grade and the upper comprehensive school and ended in June 2023 as the student ended their 9th grade and finished their upper secondary school. Buddy Class activities were organized 2-4 times a year in a close collaboration with the teachers responsible of the school classes.
The Buddy Class actions includes meetings with students with informative and interactive lessons supporting the curriculum, workshops, visits to the demonstration sites and other interesting locations related to the topics covered in the lessons, and games and fun activities. The covered topics included energy, mobility, sustainable futures, urban planning and development, and circular economy themes. Feedback from the activities was active gathered from the pupils during the three years, and activities were designed with the feedback in mind as an iterative process.
A Buddy Class concept guidebook was developed based on the learnings gathered during the SPARCS Buddy Class actions. The guidebook gathers together practical information, examples and tips for utilizing a similar concept in another project or activity in Espoo or any other geographical area.
The Buddy Class concept is a method of citizen engagement. The process involves very active participation and co-creation with the participating school classes, teachers and pupils. The aim is to organize activities that produce learning experiences in both ways between the pupils and the organizing project partners. The number of yearly meetings, the duration of the Buddy Class process as a whole and the covered topics and themes can change based on the needs and context of the project/activity. The participating schools can be selected based on any chosen criteria, e.g. geographical location, emphasized learning focus areas of the school/class or sociodemographic background of the area.
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Log inPlanning time: Less than 6 months
Implementation time: 6 months to 1 year
Citycon, City of Espoo
Citycon, City of Espoo
Schools; Teachers and Pupils
Facilitating citizen engagement
Improving education