Ho Chi Minh City to welcome 500 children, teachers for children’s global summit in 2027

Design For Change Vietnam announced the five-day event at a ceremony held in the city on Tuesday.

The planned summit will be built around five pillars, including child-led participation; stories of change; exchanges among teachers and educators; cultural, school and daily-life experiences in Ho Chi Minh City; and continued development of commitments made after the event.

Over five days, delegates will take part in student exchanges, school visits, Vietnamese cultural experiences, project exhibitions, FIDS methodology workshops, and presentations of stories about creating change.

Unlike traditional conferences, children will not only attend but also present projects, ask questions, exchange ideas, introduce projects, and co-create content of the summit.

Projects are developed using the FIDS methodology, which consists of four steps: Feel, Imagine, Do and Share.

Children begin by observing, listening, and identifying issues they care about.

They then propose solutions, test them, and turn their ideas into action.

Finally, they share their journeys, results, and lessons learned with the community.

At the ceremony, organizations partnering on the event signed memorandums of understanding, agreeing on their respective roles and coordination mechanisms.

Design For Change Vietnam (Tomato Education) will serve as the host and lead organizer.

The Ho Chi Minh City Young Business Association will serve as a co-organizer and strategic partner.

The CIS International School system and Sedbergh Vietnam will serve as host schools, while Apex will act as the professional event organizer.

Design For Change is a non-profit initiative founded in 2009 by Indian educator Kiran Bir Sethi, now present in over 70 countries.

Vietnam joined the Design For Change network in 2017, with Tomato Education as the official representative.

Since then, more than 100 student-led projects have been supported, with Vietnamese children presenting at past conferences in Taiwan, Italy, Malaysia, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan.

Nguyen Thuy Uyen Phuong, founder of Tomato Education and DFC’s country director Vietnam, said hosting the Be The Change 2027 is a chance for Vietnamese children’s voices and initiatives to connect globally.

“We hope to build a summit where children are truly heard, empowered to act, and trusted to help create a better world,” she shared.