Change Summits with UNICEF Canada’s One Youth

Timeline:  April 2019 – September 2019
Client: UNICEF Canada

In collaboration with UNICEF Canada’s One Youth team, Overlap delivered a series of two-day facilitated workshops called Change Summits in cities across Canada, including Ottawa, Montreal, Moncton, Whitehorse, and Calgary. The goal of the Change Summits was to engage adults and young people (generally between the ages of 12-18 years old) in identifying and addressing problems facing children and youth in their communities.

The Change Summits acted as call-to-action events to explore issues that affect the well-being of children and youth in communities across the country. Overlap used a Youth-Centred Design approach to guide participants in creating solutions for their well-being. Each summit was designed for approximately 50 participants, 25 adults and 25 youth.

The Change Summits allowed Overlap and UNICEF Canada to hear from youth in different communities across Canada. Each city and every individual told different stories about belonging—the challenges in their community, their families and the world around them. As we listened in different ways, we organized what we heard and produced six key insights from across the summits. The Insights Summary reported on 27 prototype solutions and reflected on the objectives achieved—it spoke to why barriers to belonging exist, and pointed to new directions for moving forward.