Process

STEP 1: Divide into teams

At this stage the class has to be divided into teams of 2-3 people that will carry out the AI-driven data research and elaborate the blueprint.

STEP 2: Choose a Challenge That Speaks to You

Every act of change begins with attention. Discuss internally within the team what do you notice around you? Is there an issue that frustrates you, fascinates you, or keeps showing up in the news and in conversations? It could be:

• Climate anxiety among young people in urban spaces
• Disinformation and its impact on civic trust
• Inequalities in access to education or healthcare
• Unemployment among older adults in the digital economy

Start by identifying a topic that resonates with your team. Don’t rush. This is your mission anchor. You can use AI tools for the idAIea generation.

Use these AI tools for idea generation and issue exploration →  ChatGPT (or Bing AI Copilot), Grok, DeepSeek , Perplexity.ai or similar. These are all Natural language Processing (NLP) AI models.

🗣️ Prompt to try: “List 10 current social challenges that are affecting young people in [your country]. Include one-sentence descriptions for each. Provide statistical information connected to each of the challenges and provide the source of information”

🗣️Tip: When entering the prompt check the different types of models – for instance if the model uses advanced reasoning algorithm; or is a model appropriate for research and analysis. It’s important when you seek to analyse statistical or concrete information with the use of AI to mark the function “deep search” to ensure you will get precise output.

Check which social issues are gaining traction by using Google Trends.

🗣️ Tip: Compare interest in keywords like “mental health” vs. “climate anxiety” to see what’s trending locally or globally.

Once your team agrees on a challenge, give it a working title (e.g. “Green Jobs for All”) and list 3–5 guiding questions to explore in the next step.

STEP 3: Investigate the Roots Using AI

Now, step into the mindset of a social scientist armed with powerful tools. Your goal here is to understand the why behind the problem—not just its symptoms, but its causes.

At this stage, you’ll also try to uncover:

• Who’s affected? Who’s most affected and how?
• Are there historical, cultural, or systemic roots?
• Why hasn’t it been solved yet?
• What efforts have already been made to solve this?

Use these insights to build a short “Problem Profile”—a clear, research-based understanding of the issue, grounded in stakeholder needs and societal context. The “Problem Profile” could be 1–2 pages or slides describing the issue, who it affects, and what you’ve discovered so far and it has to be backed up by data from your research.

Use AI-powered tools to perform research that goes beyond traditional Google searches:

• Ask ChatGPT (or Bing AI Copilot), Grok, DeepSeek , ai for background, definitions, historical causes, and key affected groups (stakeholders).
  🗣️ Prompt to try: “What are the root causes of [state the social issue you explore]. Provide statical information based on official reports, strategic documents, researches, statistical databases. Quote your sources of information” -> Example: “What are the root causes of education inequality in rural areas? Provide statical information based on official reports, strategic documents, researches, statistical databases. Quote your sources of information”
  Aks also about the key stakeholders related to this issue – Example: “Who are the key stakeholders involved in solving food insecurity?”

🗣️Tip: It’s important to ask the AI model to provide you with the sources of the information it’s giving you and double-check it, because some models may not provide fully accurate information or it could be out of context, hence in order to ensure the credibility it’s suggestable to double-check some of the resources on a random principle to evaluate the quality of the data.

• Use Google Trends & Social Searcher to discover where the issue is most talked about, and how it changes over time. Evaluate if public interest is rising or falling—and where.

Step 4: Analyse Patterns, Forecast the Future

At this stage, you’re turning from detective to strategist: The problem you’re exploring isn’t static—it’s evolving. What’s its trajectory? What’s influencing it? Where could it go next? What could this issue look like in 3, 5, or 10 years?

Document several key findings (predictions) – 1 page Trend Analysis Report, enriched with visuals (timeline, infographic, or dashboard-style summary) to make your point crystal clear. (. Include a short forecast: “Here’s where this problem could be in 5 years.”

🗣️Tip: For the visuals and infographics you can use a tool like CanvaAI.

Use AI tools and big data platforms to discover trends and predict future developments. For example:

• Analyse search data to understand rising interest in your topic. You can either check Google Trends to understand the interest back in the days or directly use an AI tool such as ChatGPT (or Bing AI Copilot), Grok, DeepSeek , ai prompting it to provide you with information regarding a past period of time.

🗣️ Prompt: “Explore [state the social issue you explore] in Europe/ the world over the last 5 years. Provide statistics and important facts and quote the resources of information.” → Example: “Explore climate anxiety / digital skills gap trends in Europe over the last 5 years. Provide statistics and important facts and quote the resources of information

• Leverage predictive insights (if available) from sources like UN Global Pulse or public datasets to imagine different future scenarios. → Explore case studies, reports, or predictive models (especially on poverty, education, or climate).
• Use ChatGPT (or Bing AI Copilot), Grok, DeepSeek , ai to model future scenarios or challenges, gather the projections and key predictions related to your issue in the next years.
  🗣️ Prompt: “What are 3 possible future outcomes/ scenarios if [state trend(s) you have identified related to the social challenge you explore]?” →Example “ What are 3 possible future outcomes/ scenarios if the digital skills gap continues to grow in rural areas?”

Step 5: Brainstorm with Intelligence—Human and Artificial

Now that you know what’s wrong and why, it’s time to explore what could be done. This step is about turning data into actionable ideas. It’s time to imagine solutions—but not alone. Bring in the brainpower of AI:

• You can ask ChatGPT, Perplexity.ai or other tool to help generate innovative approaches, draw inspiration from case studies, or model your idea on successful social enterprises.

🗣️ Prompt: “Suggest innovative solutions for tackling food waste using technology.”; “What are some successful social enterprises solving education inequality in Europe?”

• Use Canva’s AI Tools (e.g., Magic Write) to generate draft descriptions, slogans, or solution summaries for your presentation.

In this phase, consider:

• What kind of intervention would be most effective? Awareness-raising? A service? A platform?
• Who would you need on board—partners, allies, funders?
• What challenges might you face in implementation?

Use all this to create a concept draft for your solution. It doesn’t have to be perfect or final—but it should be thoughtful, creative, and grounded in what your research suggests is actually needed.

Step 6: Build Your Social Impact Blueprint

Now bring it all together.

Using Canva or a similar tool, compile your work into a visual presentation: your “Impact Blueprint.” This is your team’s showcase document—designed not just to inform, but to persuade.

It should include:

• A compelling overview of your challenge
• Key AI-driven insights and trend data
• A map of the problem’s root causes and stakeholders
• Your proposed solution concept and its potential impact. How it will address the social challenge you are presenting?
• Infographics that reinforce your narrative

Use Grammarly to polish your language. Think like a start-up team pitching to funders: clarity, structure, and visual appeal matter.

Time to pitch your ideas! Show them what you’ve got!