unger participants did face some difficulty understanding certain terminologies and concepts, most students expressed themselves freely in their local dialect, and were ready to interact and participate in the project. Further, due to active cooperation and facilitation of the leadership stakeholders like principals of schools and colleges, and the District Education Officer (DEO), the sessions went smoothly. While technical and logistical issues due to lack of proper infrastructure did curb the ambitious number of participants the team wanted to reach each day, the overall experience was nothing less than remarkable. Within a period of four days, the team managed to reach approximately 1000 youth students with the support of six education institutes spread out in Bhuj with a diverse population of students. What made the field visit to Bhuj even more worthwhile was the benevolent and accommodating nature of the five leadership stakeholders – primarily principals and heads of departments in colleges – who aided the study team and provided us with insights and suggestions for the implementation of upcoming stages of the project.
Over a series of interactions and the pilot stage of data collection, the youth, as well as senior community stakeholders, reflected on the past, the present, as well as the future of their beloved communities. The short video recordings (currently being transcribed) had the impression of a community that is rich, free and reflective. One could see the agency and the energy exhibited by the young change agents as they reflected – in their own dialect – on issues pertaining to their community, especially relating to education and learning in a fast-changing world. Cutting through all their concerns was an acute awareness of their community, a concern for its issues and most importantly, an understanding that the ultimate responsibility lies in their hands – a promising beginning towards enabling and effecting change.
With the culmination of the pilot stage of the project, the team is currently in the process of designing and developing a mobile application that can capture the issues, actions and indicators of change, while keeping a user-friendly and interactive platform for our young change agents to operate, learn from and engage with for group participation. With the level of response and participation, it is expected that the next phase of the study – application usage – will be equally fruitful.
Contributors to this article
 UNESCO Institutes and Centres: Category I Institutes: Although operating with significant autonomy, these Institutes are an integral part of the UNESCO Education Sector programme, supporting research and institutional capacity in Member States.