What is a Social Action Project?
An integral part of World Savvy’s AYLP with Bangladesh will be the completion of a social action project by each Youth
Leader participating in the trip. Social action projects may be big or small, and will grow out of what Youth Leaders learn
and experience during their time in Bangladesh. Working together during the four weeks in Bangladesh, leaders will learn
about social action projects, as well as brainstorm ideas together and start designing a plan for their individual projects.
Upon their return home, Youth Leaders will be responsible for implementing and evaluating the impact of their social
action project, with the support of World Savvy and the AYLP educator leaders. Youth leaders attending the same school
as another participant or those who live in the same community as another participant may work together.
To get started, it’s important to think about just what a social action project is. Social action projects go beyond
volunteering and service learning, where people help others in need and learn about social issues in local and global
communities. A social action project is a multi-step process in which youth address an issue they care about, learn about
it and potential solutions to solve it, then take action to create positive change on this issue.
Good social action projects:

• involve community members and stakeholders in their implementation
• both educate and motivate others to take action too
• focus on solutions to address the root causes of a social issue
  Here’s an example of a social action project that addresses these factors:
  Your school has a recycling program, but the bins around campus are almost always empty. Last year, students made
  posters to hang around campus, but this didn’t seem to have much of an impact. This year, the green team decides to
  survey students and faculty about why they aren’t recycling. They used this information to change the location of some
  bins, to develop not just awareness but also educational campaigns about climate change and the importance of recycling,
  and to encourage accountability for recycling by sponsoring contests, incentives, and electing recycling captains. All these
  efforts have led to a huge increase in recycling and a reduction in the trash across campus.
  Steps of a Social Action Project:
  1) Learn about the issue and identify a specific problem within that issue on which to focus.
  2) Identify stakeholders and needs/resources of the community affected by that issue.
  a. Stakeholders are the people involved in an issue – those impacted by the issue, those who can influence
  or create change, etc.
  b. Assess the needs and strengths of the community related to your issue. Are other organizations working
  on the same issue? Are there needs in your community not being addressed?
  3) Assemble a team.
  a. Partner with other organizations, or recruit friends to help plan and implement. Find out what everyone’s
  strengths and skills are, and design a project to utilize those strengths.
  4) Choose an action and then create a plan to carry out your project.
  5) Implement your action project.
  6) Monitor and evaluate your action.
  a. Keep data, survey participants, and track the results of your project.
  AMERICAN YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
  BANGLADESH
  World Savvy: Overview – What is a Social Action Project? Page 2 of 4
  Types of Social Action Projects
  There are many different types of projects you can undertake to make change. Use the graphic below as a guide to think
  about how your team’s talents align with the problem and solutions you identified.
  In many cases, there will be overlap between these different actions – – you might design a project that educates, unites
  people to your cause, and advocates for a policy change to address the issue. Think creatively and critically about how you
  personally can have an impact on the problem!
  Examples of each type of action:
  Educate  Develop educational workshops for your peers or younger students
   Present at local organizations, churches, etc. to educate the community about your topic
  Advocate  Organize a letter writing campaign or petition to local/national representatives
  Unite  Organize a school-wide event to raise awareness and get students to take action
   Sponsor a social event to bring people together while also generating awareness or funds for an
  organization working to solve your issue
  Speak Out  Share your research and ideas through theatrical performances or artwork
   Develop a PSA and post on social media or work with local media to get it on the air
  Engage  Commit to change your behavior in some way and start a campaign to encourage others to as
  well
  Serve  Start a non-profit or business that provides a service aligned with your proposed solution
   Organize a fundraising campaign for a non-profit working to advance your solution
  Ways to
  Take Social
  Action
  AMERICAN YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
  BANGLADESH
  World Savvy: Overview – What is a Social Action Project? Page 3 of 4
  Examples of Social Action Projects
  The following are examples of social action projects addressing a wide range of social issues, including climate change.
  Green Belt Movement
  What is now a global movement started by the late Nobel Peace Prize winning Wangari Maathai, started as a simple social
  action project where Maathai took action to plant more trees in deforested areas of her native Kenya. Recognizing that
  the reasons trees were being town down had to do with economics, politics, and the impacts of colonialism, and that
  deforestation was having a disproportionately negative impact on women, Maathai created a unique approach. She hired
  women to plant and grow trees in their own community, providing them with income and making the project sustainable
  because the women would ensure the trees would be cared for (because the local community was involved instead of
  someone from the outside who planted trees and then moved on).
  http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/
  Green Dhaka Initiative (BYEI)
  Green Dhaka initiative motivates Dhaka’s citizens to plant more within the city (particularly on balconies and in terraces).
  The principal idea is to distribute free seedlings in the major traffic intersections in the Dhaka city. The seedlings will be
  wrapped with decorative garments for both beautification and cleanliness and each of the seedlings will have a note
  attached to it containing our message about making Dhaka a green city. The project was undertaken on World
  Environment Day. http://byei.org/
  Project Jatropha
  This student-created organization is dedicated to promoting the plant Jatropha curcas as an ecologically friendly and
  economically profitable crop among the farmers of rural India. Jatropha curcas is a carbon sink, taking carbon dioxide out
  of the air and putting it into the ground. The bio-fuel produced by the seeds provides a clean, alternative source of energy
  that not only helps reduce emissions, but also is able to be used in diesel engines to power vehicles and irrigation pumps.
  In addition, by providing an alternative crop to tobacco for rural farmers, the burning of large quantities of firewood,
  which releases large amounts of carbon dioxide, can be reduced. http://projectjatropha.com/
  Brower Youth Awards
  The Brower Youth Awards recognize 6 youth every year for their outstanding contributions in environmental action and
  advocacy. Past winners of the award include the 17 year old Californian who started Project Jatropha (above), as well as
  projects to transform the food purchasing and eating practices at universities, to create community gardens and healthy,
  sustainable food campaigns in communities that were food deserts, to spotlight communities impacted by the mining,
  processing and burning of coal, and to save nearly one million acres of boreal forest from industrial logging.
  http://www.broweryouthawards.org/
  Mission Greenbelt
  The Mission Greenbelt Project works with San Francisco residents to build a public artwork of sidewalk gardens
  connecting the city’s street trees, existing sidewalk gardens, backyards and vacant lots. The project’s goals are: to create
  more habitat and forage for area birds and insects, and to collect rainwater, which is otherwise diverted into San
  Francisco’s combined sewage treatment system. All this is done in collaboration and with the input of community
  members. http://www.art-ecology.com/
  Facing the Future
  Facing the Future is an education organization dedicated to creating curriculum and helping teachers globally educate
  students about some of the world’s most pressing global issues, including climate change. They have compiled a database
  of organizations taking action on climate change to assist students in finding service learning and action project ideas.
  https://greenschoolsnationalnetwork.org/facing-future-global-sustainability-curriculum-empowers-students-tackle-21stcentury-challenges/
  AMERICAN YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
  BANGLADESH
  World Savvy: Overview – What is a Social Action Project? Page 4 of 4
  Timeline – Social Action Projects
  The following timeline will help break down the steps of the process for designing a social action projects, and the due
  dates for each step along the way.
  Action Step Activities Due Dates
  1) Learn about the issue and
  identify a problem.
   Bi-weekly assignments and pre-trip reading
   Workshops and projects completed during the trip
   Additional research related to your specific action
  project to be completed after the trip, as needed
  Before and during
  the trip
  2) Identify stakeholders and
  community needs/
  resources.
   As your next bi-weekly assignment (you have more
  than two weeks for this one, though!), interview two
  community members (teachers, local business people,
  staff of local social service or environmental
  organizations, etc.) and post a paragraph summary of
  each interview on Edmodo (turned in as an
  assignment and posted on your small group).
  November 28
  3) Assemble a team.  Identify and speak to two people to be part of the
  team for your social action project. These could be
  friends, members of your school’s
  environmental/green club, members of local
  organizations, etc. Talk to them about what their skills
  and interests are, and think about how you will utilize
  their talents for your project.
  December 13
  4) Choose an action and make
  a plan.
   During the trip, students will work together to begin
  brainstorming ideas for projects.
   When you return from the trip, sit down with your
  team and complete the planning of your project. Then
  write and submit 5 page social action project plan.
  February 20
  5) Implement your project.  All the planning and the actual project itself should be
  completed.
  April 16
  6) Monitor and evaluate your
  project.
   Submit the results from the evaluation of your project,
  with the data you have collected and the results of
  what you have accomplished.