P. Vileišis Gymnasium (Pasvalys) students’ idea will be developed by “Civinity”

P. Vileišis Gymnasium (Pasvalys) students’ idea will be developed by “Civinity”

On 13-14 October, students of Pasvalys Petras Vileišis Gymnasium presented an idea based on the gamification principle – to develop emotional intelligence – at the social hackathon “Smartuoliai”, which took place at the ISM in Lithuania to search for new and effective ways of developing emotional intelligence of children and young people.

Emotions have a strong influence on the behaviour of adolescents at different stages of their development. According to research, high emotional intelligence influences good social communication, self-awareness, decision-making and academic skills. Adolescents who lack emotional intelligence tend to have low anger management skills, to isolate themselves from others, and to feel sad and lonely. Therefore, emotional intelligence training can help to develop their social relationships, reduce stress and frustration, and increase their understanding of their own and others’ emotions. Children learn emotional intelligence primarily from their parents, adults, peer authorities and the environment in which they spend their time. Entertainment, games and the media are important influences when spending time together and stirring emotions.

Business support for measures to develop emotional intelligence in children and young people, which was the subject of much discussion at the social hackathon held at the ISM University of Management and Economics, is therefore one of the key elements that companies and NGOs have recently been incorporating into their corporate social responsibility plans

“As a traditional business looking to innovate across the sector, we want to help creative students, to inspire them for what is probably their first, very important project – learning to know themselves and to care for others. We believe that today’s younger generation will be able to cope with all the challenges they face”, says Vilija Zapalskienė, Director of “Civinity LT”

In the social hackathon “Smartuoliai”, out of all the solutions submitted by 4 NGOs, 1 start-up and 14 teams of senior high school students, including two teams of Ukrainian students currently living in Lithuania, “Civinity” chose the idea from the students of Pasvalys Petras Vileišis Gymnasium. The team that came up with the solution was made up of five students – Emilija Žigaitė, Skaiva Gudauskytė, Pijus Ranonis, Deividas Malinauskas and Melanija Jovaišytė. The students themselves say that during the hackathon they tested their idea, changed the concept of the game, got advice on how to raise funding, got help from a psychologist and an agreement to collaborate, and changed the prototype five times. A game-based tool for emotional intelligence can be a great idea that can be used in many different ways, from a board game to an app. Ieva Martinantytė, founder and director of Kūrybiškumo (Creativity) LAB, helped to refine the ideas. The projects were evaluated by partners, psychologists and Justina Kugytė, Digitisation Project Manager at the Ministry of Education.

The social hackathon was initiated and organised by real estate development company “Eika” together with “Civinity” partners “ACME Grupe”, “JUNG” and “Kazickas Family Foundation”. “Katalista Ventures”, which conceived the hackathon, hopes that the community of companies, NGOs, start-ups and young people will continue to support each other and together create great changes in the psychological health of Lithuania.

Friends and social partners of the Social Hackathon: “ISM University of Management and Economics”, creative agency “Autoriai”, “Lithuanian Junior Achievement”, “Reach for Change”, “Gelbėkit vaikus / Save the Children” Lithuania,” GovTech Lab” Lithuania, “Lithuanian Social Innovation Cluster”, “CodeAcademy”, “Vaikų linija”, “Jaunimo linija”, “Pažinimo medis”, Public Institution “Avilys”, “Jaunimas gali”, “Crisis Management Centre”, “Child Support Centre”, “Mindletic”, “Digiklasė”, “Pergalė”, “Maisto misija”, “Brooklyn Brothers” and others.