Gallery
foto: Tokajuk
Project overview
An educational program that fused empathy, creativity and circular thinking into a structured innovation process for children.
Participants were guided to identify real problems in their immediate environment, translate emotional awareness into design intent, and prototype practical solutions using upcycled materials connecting social sensitivity with circular creation.
Main objectives
The program was designed as a process where children’s natural empathy evolves into invention. Using a custom Empathy Manual, participants documented everyday challenges they observed, analysed their root causes, and transformed these insights into functional prototypes built from discarded materials.
The aim was to demonstrate that meaningful innovation emerges at the intersection of emotional intelligence, resourcefulness and creative experimentation.
Achieved results
Children developed highly imaginative yet purposeful prototypes, including hamster paddock monitoring systems, dog-bark translation collars, backpack-carrying drones and smog-absorbing devices: all constructed primarily from reused materials.
More importantly, the workshops significantly strengthened their ability to:
☀︎ Identify and articulate problems
☀︎ Understand cause-and-effect relationships
☀︎ Turn observations into design concepts
☀︎ Integrate environmental responsibility instinctively into the creative process
Main reflection
This experiment revealed how naturally children adopt circular mindsets when sustainability is framed as empowerment rather than limitation.
The spontaneous transition from “we need new materials” to “let’s use what we already have” showed that regenerative thinking can be embedded through play, imagination and hands-on making, positioning sustainability not as sacrifice, but as creative superpower.