Amplifying children’s voices, creativity and resilience
The COVISION project was created to learn about how children creatively found ways to manage the challenges faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Funded by the Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council, the project explored the creative and innovative ways children were responding to the changes during and after the pandemic, and how their initiatives could help other children, particularly addressing their sense of safety, calm, hope, self-efficacy and connectedness. COVISION researchers focused on the active engagement of children, what we can learn from them, and how this can help us confront futre pandemics and disasters.
NEWS FROM COVISION
31 March 2023:
COVISION work programmes completed. Reporting under way.
The COVISION fieldwork programmes were completed on schedule by the end of December 2023. The COVISION team is now working on a final report and a number of academic research papers to compile and disseminate the learning from this experience.
01 December 2022:
New COVISION overview video on-line
Following its launch at the COVISION Showcase, a new video that sums up the whole COVISION experience in just four minutes can now be seen on-line. The animated video, developed in collaboration with the COVISION CRAG, provides a quick, user-friendly introduction to COVISION.
26 November 2022:
Universal Children's Day celebrated at COVISION Showcase
Children and young people and their families, together with politicians, policy-makers and academics, joined the COVISION team at UCD’s George Moore Auditorium to celebrate Universal Children’s Day. As well as sharing COVISION’s outcomes and achievements, there was an opening address from Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman, and a closing address from Children’s Ombudsman Niall Muldoon.
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01 November 2022:
COVISION Co-Design team pitch their ideas to senior policy-makers
The COVISION Co-Design Team Ireland held their Pitch Day at the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman (OCO) in Dublin. A panel of invited policy experts from the Department for Children and Youth (DCEDIY), Department of Education, Department of Health, Health Research Board (HRB), and TUSLA (Government Children’s Agency), including the Minister for Children and the Children’s Ombudsman, listened and responded to the children’s proposals.
19 October 2022:
COVISION Showcase: Full programme announced
The full programme for the COVISION Showcase on Saturday 26 November 2022 has been announced. The event will take place in the George Moore Auditorium on UCD’s Belfield Campus, from 10:00 – 13:00 (Irish Time). The programme features the work of our international Co-Design teams, a conversation with members of the COVISION CRAG, an opening keynote from Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman, and a closing keynote from Children's Ombudsman Niall Muldoon.
15 September 2022:
COVISION Project Showcase announced
The COVISION team has announced a COVISION Project Showcase; a live event that will take place in the George Moore Auditorium on UCD’s Belfield Campus, on Saturday 26 November 2022 (10:00 – 13:00 Irish Time). The event will showcase the outputs and impact of COVISION, including the presentation of proposals from our international Co-Design teams, and a round table with members of the COVISION CRAG.
26 June 2022:
COVISION Co-Design Workshop Ireland first session
COVISION’s first face-to-face workshop for children and young people was hosted by the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman in Dublin on 26 June. The team started work on designing creative responses to support children, families and communities affected by pandemics and other crises (pictured). Their final proposals will be pitched to top policy-makers in early November.
03 June 2022:
COVISION seeking more participants for our Co-Design Workshop
COVISION invites children and young people (ages 10-17) to join our Co-Design Workshop to help design creative responses to support children, families and communities affected by pandemics and other crises.
03 June 2022:
New COVISION webinar announced
The 2022 COVISION webinar series will continue on 29 June with a critical conversation exploring the opportunities, and also the challenges in engaging with children and young people in public policy-making, with guest speakers Professor Carol Mutch, Dr Carmel Corrigan and Linda O’Sullivan.
25 April 2022:
COVISION video goes online in English, Spanish and Portuguese
As children and young people respond to COVISION's global call, using our secure online app to submit examples of their COVID-related creative work, we have produced a short video (1 minute) to reach out to more children and young people around the world. The video is now available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
19 March 2022:
COVISION launches global call for children and young people’s COVID-related artwork
Around the world many children and young people have turned to art and creativity as a way of responding to COVID-19. They have shared their thoughts and feelings as well as messages to their communities. Seeking to learn from this great flow of children’s creativity, the COVISION team are calling on children and young people everywhere to send us examples of their COVID-related creative work.
11 February 2022:
Two new COVISION webinars announced
The 2022 COVISION webinar series will continue on 09 March with Prof. Lucy Bray of Edge Hill University in the UK and colleagues presenting their research on "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)". We're taking a break in April, so no April webinar. Then on 04 May we are pleased to welcome Professor Emeritus Brian O'Neill from Technological University Dublin, who will share findings from his recent OCO-sponsored research: "DIGITAL VOICES: Progressing children’s right to be heard through social and digital media”.
16 December 2021:
COVISION 2022 webinar series: First webinar announced
The 2022 COVISION webinar series will kick off on 09 February with a presentation from A/Prof. Rebekah Grace and colleagues from the ReSPECT Project at the University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia, on “Reflecting on ReSPECT: Key lessons from a youth-led co-design project on service innovation”.
10 December 2021:
COVISION at Children’s Research Network 2021 on-line conference
At the Children’s Research Network’s on-line conference on 10 December, COVISION partner Prof Carol Mutch from the University of Auckland in New Zealand gave the opening keynote address on “Using serendipity to gain insights into children’s experiences of Covid-19”. Later COVISION’s Dr Harry Shier presented on “Working With Children and Young People as Research Advisers: The COVISION Experience“.
25 November 2021:
“A Better Normal” post COVID-19: COVISION’s Universal Children’s Day celebration
The COVISION project’s international partners came together to celebrate Universal Children’s Day 2021 with a unique online event taking participants on a world tour to hear children’s voices and share creative initiatives across five continents.
12 October 2021:
COVISION blogs posted
The first two blogs have been posted on the COVISION website in partnership with ERIC, the Ethical Research Involving Children initiative: “Anonymity or Recognition” by Harry Shier, and “Children’s images online: dilemmas of participatory research” by Kay Tisdall, Marlies Kustatscher and Helen McAneney.
23 September 2021:
COVISION protocol published
A protocol for the COVISION study has been published online by HRB Open Research.
07 July 2021:
COVISION webinar series launched
The COVISION project has launched a series of monthly webinars, where guest presenters will cover a wide range of topics relating to participatory research with children and young people. In the opening webinar on 07 July, COVISION’s Dr Helen McAneney presented on “Systematic Review or Scoping Review: Evidence Synthesis”.
Details of forthcoming webinars here
Information on past webinars, including links to video recordings, here.
17 June 2021:
COVISION masterclass at European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) Virtual Conference
COVISION’s Dr Suja Somanadhan, Dr Helen McAneney and Dr Harry Shier presented a masterclass on “Researching with children during the COVID-19 Pandemic”.
22 April 2021:
COVISION project launch
The COVISION Project was formally launched by Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman at an international online event, which also featured presentations from the COVISION team and closing remarks from Children’s Ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon.