Enter the 2014 Shape the Future competition...
Thanks for your interest - the 2013 Shape the Future competition is now closed.
See the entries from the winning and shortlisted schools, which were presented last May to an expert panel including Bill Gates.
The Department for International Development is really looking forward to seeing what you will come up with for this year’s competition - which challenges students to look at how we can create a safer and more equitable world for girls and women worldwide. The winning entry will be invited to present their ideas at a youth event in the run up to a global summit this summer.
Information from Shape the Future 2013:
Support page - ideas & resources for teachers
View our 'Experts Inspire' video clips and hear what different 'development experts' think are the key issues
Why 'Shape the Future' has been created
Since their creation in September 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have encouraged the many countries committed to them to work towards meeting the needs of the world’s poorest people. The target date for the MDGs is 2015 so beyond that, a new set of goals will be needed. The MDGs were debated and agreed in the late 1990s when the world looked quite different, so a new global strategy for development in 2015 will have to build on their successes and confront different challenges with new solutions.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, is Co-Chair of the United Nations High Level Panel that has been tasked with making recommendations on these new development goals. He believes that we need a new, transformative agenda for development to really tackle the root causes of poverty, not just the symptoms, and would like to hear what young people in the UK think needs to be included. To enable this, the Department for International Development (DFID) is running a competition, the
Shape the Future Challenge,that will invite schools to discuss, formulate and submit their own proposals for post-2015 development goals in the form of a presentation.
Why your school should enter 'Shape the Future'
Shape the Future gives students in all UK secondary schools a ‘voice’ to share their own views on the most effective way of ensuring development for all. The competition will enable them to develop their understanding of development and the MDGs and to express their vision for the future of the world, at the same time as developing their presentation and analytical skills. Winning schools will be invited to work with development experts to formulate their initial ideas and will then present their proposals to an Expert Panel that will include Ministers, MPs, representatives from DFID and other experts.
The competition will be conducted across two rounds, with all the necessary resources provided:
Round 1 (January - March 2013):
Groups of up to five 11-14 year olds students will put together and submit short PowerPoint or video presentations. Deadline:
Thursday 28 March 2013. A resource pack is available to support teachers in working with their students to explore the MDGs and their future equivalents and, where appropriate, to structure an in-school competition to select the best entry to submit. Information will be provided on the ways in which teachers can integrate the competition into the curriculum.
The Expert Panel will select five schools from all of the entries to present their proposals to Ministers, MPs, representatives from DFID and other experts. The winning presentations of the five finalist schools will be uploaded to the Global Dimension website, where other schools can view them.
Round 2 (April 2013) will be in two phases:
First, each finalist school will be assigned two expert mentors who will conduct an in-school workshop to help the team to refine their proposals prior to the final presentation stage.
In the second phase, the five finalist groups will travel to the new DFID headquarters in London for a day of presentations and workshops before presenting their final proposals live to the expert panel. The winning team will then be selected by the Expert Panel.
Next steps:
Welsh language version:
Pecyn adnoddau addysgu Llunio’r Dyfodol