Design thinking and civics education : a collaborative and creative approach to empowering young change-makers with the Creative Citizen Project

![CDATA[The Creative Citizen Project is a pilot research study that aims to creatively engage young people in impactful civic participation in their local community. In this presentation, we discusses some of the findings of this pilot program, particularly from the perspective of design as a tool for promoting social engagement among young people as citizens and democratic agents. We explain the research aims, the Creative Citizen pedagogical model that informed the pilot workshop program, and in particular, focus on how the collaboration of Design Thinking with Civics and Citizenship education supported the participants to develop and utilise empathy, uniting political knowledge with problem-solving skills to encourage critical creativity.]]