Partnerships
Working on education and youth welfare Although our home base is firmly in the Frisian clay, we have built up a large network of international cooperation partners in recent years….
Picture book inclusion diversity
Encouraging understanding between pupils with different backgrounds through play
As part of the European INTERACT consortium, 8D is developing an educational picture book to promote diversity, inclusion, and European citizenship in primary education. Through shared reading and creative activities, children learn about European values like respect and solidarity. At the same time, they strengthen their connections with peers and gain a deeper understanding of each other’s backgrounds and cultures. The book places special emphasis on creating a warm and inclusive classroom environment for children with migration or refugee backgrounds. The picture book will be available in English, Greek, Ukrainian, and Italian.
The challenge
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Concept development around urgent European themes
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Coordinating a collaborative writing process
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Complete graphic design and multilingual production
Inclusion and diversity in education: social relevance
By the end of 2023, 117.3 million people worldwide were displaced by war and violence, including many children. For these children, education is a crucial space to find a sense of belonging in their new country. To promote inclusion and integration, the European Commission has introduced an ambitious action plan that places education at the heart of fostering connections.
The European consortium INTER-ACT aims to contribute to these ambitions by supporting primary school teachers with practical guidelines and an innovative interactive educational tool focused on the inclusion of refugee and migrant students in European classrooms. This approach helps students develop essential social skills and a broader perspective on Europe.
Approach
For over a decade, our team has applied social design principles, actively involving end-users in the development of new interventions. Achieving impactful results begins with assembling a well-rounded consortium that engages all key stakeholders—in this case, students and teachers.
The participating school, PASCAL English School Lemesos in Cyprus, boasts a highly diverse international student body, with students representing more than 35 different countries. Greek partners IDEC and IASIS bring valuable expertise in developing curricula focused on “intercultural competencies” and “inclusive education,” as well as their specialization in mental health. This collaboration ensures the project’s content is both relevant and high quality.
The consortium follows an iterative process to create the picture book, with 8D serving as the design partner and facilitator. Our team is responsible for crafting the story concept, overseeing graphic design, and coordinating the collaborative writing process. To further extend the project’s impact, we are developing a dedicated project website where the picture book and all related resources will be freely accessible to education professionals throughout Europe.
Results
In collaboration with the consortium and target groups, we defined the requirements for the creative educational tool. The concept must:
- Encourage students to share their own stories and experiences.
- Foster teamwork to address challenges collaboratively.
- Increase awareness of European values through engaging, playful activities.
Building on these requirements, our team developed a playful story framework. Within this structure, the partnership collaboratively writes the chapters, ensuring the stories reflect diverse contexts and offer a wide range of perspectives.
The story features cheerful fantasy creatures from different villages who come together in a new town to open a toy shop. Along the way, they face challenges, such as making assumptions about one another. For instance, what happens when one creature has a complicated name? Do others make an effort to learn it out of respect, or do they suggest a different name? And how does the creature feel about this decision?
The picture book’s print files will be made open-source through a project website currently under development. This will enable teachers in other regions to adapt the concept to their specific contexts, ensuring the impact of this international collaboration continues beyond the project’s completion.
INTER-ACT is currently under development. The consortium includes Dekaplus (Cyprus), Pascal Private School (Cyprus), IDEC and IASIS (Greece), and lead partner Unione Degli Assessorati (Italy). The project is funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ program.
Curious about other analogue forms for educational interventions? Check out our page ‘Board and card games: playful conversation’ and the overview of interactive picture books that we have made before.