The 15 finalists come from 10 countries and Arkki is the only organization from the Nordics.
Arkki International has been selected as a finalist for the WISE 2020 awards for its impactful and innovative approach to education. Arkki was selected among 625 submissions evaluated according to strict criteria and is the only finalist coming from the Nordic countries. Arkki offers creative education via architecture to children and youth. Arkki’s mission is to equip and nurture the new generation with a creative mindset, innovation skills needed in any future profession or startup, and skills and qualities to integrate into the future world and beyond the 21st century.
The 15 finalists come from 10 countries and were selected by a pre-Jury of international experts and were selected based on its innovation, distinctiveness within its sphere of action and positive contribution to society.
“We are so honored to be selected as a WISE awards finalist! We especially believe that our solution, Arkki creative education, supports the children in developing the most essential skills, competencies, and qualities for today’s and future’s society. Creativity is the new literacy” says Pihla Meskanen Arkki International CEO.
“The world is facing unprecedented challenges – social, economic and environmental – driven by accelerating globalization and a faster rate of technological developments. Education needs to focus on the higher-order thinking skills and qualities like creativity and critical thinking, which machines and AI lack. After all, it’s us humans who design the AI and robots, and imagine and create the implementations of how to use them. Arkki offers an impactful solution to one of the most urgent educational challenges.”
The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) is an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF). WISE awards are granted to the most successful innovative projects worldwide that are addressing global educational challenges.
Stavros N. Yiannouka, CEO of WISE, said:
“Our world is experiencing a crisis that is affecting all facets of our lives. Education is no exception, and indeed the need for innovation is all the more urgent because of the systemic shortcomings that the crisis has exposed. In this context, the work celebrated by the WISE Awards is critically important. Each of the 2020 WISE Awards finalists has built an effective, tested solution to a global educational challenge. Whether ensuring access to fundamental early childhood education or imparting valuable entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills, each project is already transforming lives, and provides an inspirational model for others to emulate. As we look forward to recognising this year’s WISE Awards winners it is imperative that policymakers and civil society leaders around the world seriously address the need to bring some of these innovations to scale.”
The projects tackle a number of pressing educational issues including implementing early childhood education; promoting social-emotional learning for early years; teaching of 21st century and entrepreneurship skills; providing education to marginalized and vulnerable populations; improving teacher training and motivation; fostering reading; democratizing sign language education; promoting legal education and nurturing global citizens among the future generations.
Since 2009, WISE has received more than 4,200 applications from over 150 countries. Up until now, 66 projects have won the WISE Awards, from a wide variety of sectors and locations for their innovative character, their positive contribution, and their potential for scalability and adaptability. These projects represent a growing resource of expertise and sound educational practice.
The other 2020 Finalists are MyMachine, Stawisha Leadership Institute, Barefoot College Solar Electrification with enriched Education, MAIA Impact School, Dengbe’ Bide (“Two Rabbits” in Baka), Education for Sharing (E4S), Pratham Books’ Storyweaver, Centro Educativo Tecnico Chixot – Hero School, Think Equal, The Junior Achievement Company Program, SignLab, Parenting the Future (PTF), Justice Changemaker Program and Transformational Teacher Training.
The Announcement of the six winners selected by the jury will be done in October 2020 and will be celebrated at a WISE event.
Arkki International has recently been recognized by multiple awards and nominations. In 2019 Arkki’s project in Vietnam won the UNICEF CFCI2019 Inspire Award in the category “Meaningful Child Participation”. Children Innovate project was one of the 6 chosen initiatives out of 226 social innovation projects submitted worldwide. In the same year, Arkki made it to the HundrED 2020 Global Collection as one of the leading and most inspiring innovations in education that are changing the face of K12 education today.
