Young people join forces to challenge the crisis

A group of Young Global Advocates held the Irish launch of a pan-European campaign Challenging the Crisis in Dublin today. The campaign will be rolled out across five other European countries over the coming weeks.

The campaign, which is driven by young people aged 16-30 in the so-called PIIGSS countries, is focused on practical ways to tackle the crisis, through Social and Solidarity Economy. The Young Global Advocates will raise awareness and generate support among the general public and engage with policy makers towards a European Year for Social and Solidarity Economy.

In her address to the launch Mairead McGuinness, MEP and Vice-President of the European Parliament said: “Challenging the Crisis is a unique opportunity to reshape our thinking. It is led by young people with conviction, it is working across six member states of the EU and it has the potential to motivate and challenge us to see global inequality as our problem too and our duty to address.”

Lynn Boylan, MEP, who spoke at the event said: 'It is fantastic to see young people in Ireland proactively engaging with their international peers on issues such as the impact of austerity while creating a cross-border platform of solidarity to work from. I was delighted to attend today's event to give an insight of the work I am doing in the European Parliament on youth matters and would like to commend them on their campaign to launch a European Year of Social and Solidarity Economy.'

The campaign is part of an EU funded three-year development education project led by the Irish Development Education Association (IDEA) with partners in Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain and Slovenia. The aim of the project is to build critical awareness among young adults, enabling them to see the European financial crisis in a global, interdependent context.

Frank Geary, Director of IDEA, said: “We are privileged to have the opportunity to work with such an enthusiastic, committed and creative group of young people. This campaign highlights what development education is truly about, through its strong focus on global justice and its search for answers as well as causes of injustice, poverty and inequality through experiential learning. The Challenging the Crisis campaign is a platform for young people to take the lead in the solutions and the practical steps we need to promote global justice for all.”

A bout the Campaign

Challenging the Crisis is a Development Education project aimed at engaging young people aged 16 – 30 in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia in campaigning for social justice and international development in the context of austerity at home. 

IDEA is the lead partner in the project, working with partners in 5 other European countries: Fair Trade Hellas (Greece), CIPSI (Italy), Fondazione Culturale Responsabilità Etica (Italy),  IMVF  (Portugal),  SLOGA (Slovenia)  Fundación Economistas sin Fronteras (Spain).

The young people that are involved in this project are known as Young Global Advocates (YGAs). Through Development Education the YGAs are encouraged to think of ideas to tackle inequality at home and abroad – a reframing of development. Through a project based on the core principles of development education, the YGAS wish to campaign for a truly transformative solution. Social and Solidarity Economy challenges the current socio-economic power structures, which they have witnessed as the root causes of poverty in their own societies and across the world. 

About Social and Solidarity Economy

Social and Solidarity Economy has many diverse meanings, however the ultimate aim of Social and Solidarity Economy is to satisfy the needs of individuals and communities across the world.
Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) includes traditional forms of cooperatives and mutual associations, fair trade organizations, associations of informal sector workers, social enterprises, and community currency and alternative finance schemes – such as micro finance groups or credit unions.

The concept is globally applicable. It is as useful in Europe as it is in the Global South. In simple terms it puts people at the centre of the economy. 

It is based on the following core values:
●    Democracy 
●    Solidarity
●    Inclusiveness
●    Diversity
●    Sustainable Development
●    Equality, equity and justice for all

Launch of IDEA's Theory of Impact for GCE

September 26, 2025
Date: Tuesday, 04 November, from 3.30–4.30pm Location: Online via Zoom IDEA is thrilled to invite members to the online launch of our new “Theory of Impact for Global Citizenship Education” on Tuesday, 04 November, from 3.30–4.30pm, Online via Zoom. During this session, we will present the model, share insights into the process behind its development, and explore how it will be used to strengthen impact across the sector. We will also introduce a new tool in progress, an interactive data visualisation map designed to showcase our collective impact as a network. For many years, IDEA and its members have been grappling with the concept of impact in Development Education/Global Citizenship Education (hereinafter ‘GCE’). As GCE practitioners, tracking impact helps us to identify how, where and with whom our work is creating positive change, as well as investigating areas in which our impact could be stronger. Furthermore, we can also benefit from examining the collective impact of GCE carried out by the wide-ranging work of IDEA members, and from exploring how these impacts contribute to the major social changes to which the GCE community aspires. Driven therefore by the need to understand how projects and programmes are collectively “making a difference” in IDEA we looked at models that could help us visualise and capture GCE “impact networks”. We formulated our vision of impact and then a theory of how we expect this desired impact to be achieved to allow us to map our activities and collect data to corroborate that theory. This Theory of Impact model is how we hope to illustrate this complex GCE impact network. Building on work done by IDEA over many years including building sectoral capacity in using Results Frameworks for GCE, our Quality & Impact working group, engagement with Irish Aid on their Performance Measurement Framework (PMF), and the successful roll-out of a Code of Good Practice for DE/GCE, this Theory of Impact represent the next stage of our effort to ‘develop a consistent approach to measuring impact among the sector’. We are therefore thrilled to invite you to the presentation of our ‘Theory of Impact for GCE’. At this online presentation, we will tell you about the process that led to the creation of this model, how it will be used and what we hope it could bring to the sector. We will also touch on a new tool being developed based on the model, which should allow the creation of an interactive data visualisation map of our collective impact as a network. Join us as we launch into this exciting new phase of our Impact Measurement work. Join us as we begin this exciting new phase of our Impact Measurement work. Register below!

IDEA Advocacy Toolkit and GCE Policy Guide Workshop, November

September 26, 2025
Date: 11 November, 10.30am – 4.30pm. Location: IDEA offices, 6 Gardiner Row IDEA launched its new Advocacy Toolkit and GCE Policy Guide resource pack in early March. The advocacy toolkit and policy guide were developed for IDEA members to strengthen their capacity to effectively advocate with policymakers and to actively engage in policy processes on GCE in Ireland and the wider world. IDEA will facilitate a full-day in-person workshop on these resources in the IDEA offices on Tuesday, 11 November ,10.30am – 4.30pm. Places are limited to 20 participants and will be given on a first come, first served basis. Please note that this is a repeat of the workshop that took place in May and is aimed at members who did not have the opportunity to participate in May. A vegetarian lunch will be provided. Register below!

Code Network Meeting November 2025

September 17, 2025
Date: Wednesday 26 November, 10.00am – 3.30pm Location: Richmond Barracks, Inchicore, Dublin 8, D08 YY05 IDEA is looking forward to welcoming all members of the Code of Good Practice for Development Education to our next Code network meeting on Wednesday, 26 November, in Richmond Barracks in Inchicore, Dublin. There are places for two representatives (staff, volunteers, etc.) from each Code member. One of the commitments in joining the Code is to contribute to the Community of Practice for this Code, including sharing successes and learning with other Code members and attending at least one of two Code network meetings annually. Register below!