Building social resilience through play: Societal impacts of the ACES project

The ACES (A Community-Centred Educational Model for Developing Social Resilience through Play) project addresses global challenges in education by fostering social resilience through playful and frugal approaches to co-create learning in communities across Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. ACES empowers learners and educators to engage with local issues, from environmental sustainability to cultural preservation, using co-creation to frame education as a communal and transformative process. Grounded in participatory action research and a flexible Theory of Change framework, the project utilises open, iterative and playful methods to build trust, agency and local ownership. Case studies across the three countries such as STEMBucket, the PlayLab Bus and Green Playground demonstrate scalable models of frugal and playful education. Outcomes include enhanced learner confidence, revitalised local knowledge and educators empowered as change agents. Anchored in the ACES Charter’s principles (community, playfulness, frugality and co-creation), the project offers a practical and hopeful model for reimagining education systems globally. ACES shows that resilience grows not from resources alone, but from relationships, creativity, fun and shared purpose.