Project objectives
Throughout history, young people have played powerful roles in driving movements for change—from civil rights and gender equality to climate justice and beyond. Research shows that youth activism flourishes when supported by strong relationships with families, schools, and communities. Through ACTivate History, students are encouraged to draw inspiration from
their own families and communities, discovering that they too have the power to shape the world around them.
This project is designed for teachers and students across eight countries and has three core goals:
- To preserve local civic memory by guiding students to interview and document the experiences of activists in their communities, especially those whose contributions may be at risk of being forgotten.
- To deepen students’ understanding of civic life, activism, and history by actively engaging them in the oral history process—teaching them to collect, analyse, and reflect on real-life stories of social and political change.
- To create a growing archive of personal narratives that humanizes and contextualizes key civic movements of the last 50 years, offering students, teachers, and researchers a valuable resource for understanding democracy in action.
At the heart of this project is the connection between memory and activism. The stories we choose to tell and the ways we tell them shape collective memory and influence how community understands its past. By collecting oral histories, students will gather firsthand accounts from individuals involved in political or social movements, creating a living archive of voices that might otherwise go unheard. Student work becomes part of a growing, open-access global archive—a digital repository of activism stories available to educators, researchers, and the public. In this way, students become more than learners: they become knowledge creators and stewards of civic memory.
By participating in ACTivate History, you are helping your students see themselves as part of a long and inspiring tradition of citizen-led change. Together, you’ll uncover meaningful stories—stories that not only inform but inspire the next generation to act!
For teachers and educators
- Educating students about democracy, civic engagement, and activism through real-life stories and interactive methods
- Bringing oral history into the classroom with a flexible, cross-curricular framework suitable for history, civics, language arts, and social studies
- Using ready-to-implement lesson plans and resources that align with both academic and civic learning goals
- Creating meaningful connections between local history and global themes in civic participation
For researchers and global community
- Contribute to a global archive of civic narratives, focusing on personal experiences of activism across cultures
- Support research in education, civic studies, and memory studies by compiling and analysing student-collected oral histories
- Host public, open-access digital platform featuring an interactive map and searchable database of student interviews and stories
For communities and society
- Promoting intergenerational dialogue, linking young people with older generations who have participated in social
change - Encouraging local and global connections, fostering empathy, collaboration, and shared civic values across regions and
cultures - Preserving important civic legacies, helping students recognize and honor those who have contributed to the advancement of rights and freedoms around the world
