Students collaborating on Earth's complex challenges

 
 
 
 
 
 

Mission:

Design a sustainable Earth community

Work in a large company, for a client, on a day-long mission

Fixing the Earth’s environment is a great challenge that many experts are already tackling. All of us have a lifetime of living in Earth communities and can contribute to the mission: our Environmental Design Challenge lets you see that you are not alone, that you can help but that you do not bear all of the responsibility. You’ll see how you can extend the cohort of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs who are thinking about sustaining Earth. In the EDC, you’ll be assigned to a company handling a Request from a ‘client’ for an ‘Environmental Proposal’. You’ll all be working towards winning client approval of some (or perhaps all) of your company’s designs. Multiple ‘companies’ can be working on the same challenge at the same time. As experienced Earth-dwellers, every member of your company has relevant experience. All can research more knowledge. You can collaborate to propose new solutions, extrapolate from existing ideas and promote undervalued solutions. A company of 20 workers brings 20 worker-days of effort together on a single day, making the task feasible. It is a worthy challenge.

 

Value

Objectives of our programme …

Our prime audience is the next generation. Our main objective is to awaken this generation to the urgent issue of their time. Our educational method is active participation, i.e., discovery through doing. Our key aim is to encourage a passion for ecology as well as to create agents of change.

 

Testimonials from our other
‘challenge based’ events

“The single most important thing that has ever happened to me … the extent to which I had the experience of a lifetime, learnt unimaginable amounts about … engineering and design, and how close the team got over the trip is beyond my wildest dreams.”

KIRSTY RODGER

Participant at UKSDC UK Space Design Competition

 

 

“The day is driven by the students themselves rather than being teacher-led, and they will discover in themselves resourcefulness, imagination and team-working ability that is rarely so effectively drawn out. Friendly rivalry between the teams gives the Challenge a tang of competitiveness that the students really enjoy, while judging-feedback is shaped to ensure all students receive positive feedback and affirmation so that, at the end of the day, every individual goes away with enhanced self-confidence and a strong sense of personal fulfilment.”

BILL

Teacher, Galactic Challenge

“Bede’s Challenge was a great experience for all involved. Excellent organisation and the friendly enthusiasm of the students ensured that the day ran really well, with the mixed teams of students, each drawn from a number of different schools, collaborating happily and producing impressive design proposals. There was a real buzz as they researched and refined their ideas and the confidence with which they presented their ideas – and defended them in the face of probing questions from the panel of judges – proved just how much they had gained in both knowledge and confidence from the experience.

BILL

Teacher, Galactic Challenge

 

“It was truly an unforgettable life changing experience, where we will use the skills and lessons learned for the rest of our careers.”

CAROLINE SWENSON

Participant at UKSDC
UK Space Design Competition

Advocacy

Become a proposer of change …

At the Environmental Design Challenge, you will experience a challenge, created for school students, involving university-level collaboration. With other students your age, you will be assigned to a company which has received a request from a client. Your client seeks your company’s proposals for dealing with specific environmental problems facing Earth. Your collaboration will involve using creativity, communication and critical thinking. Your advocacy for your proposal will take the form of a company presentation with Q&A from the client.

Our Sponsors

The SSE²F and the EnviroDC are proud to be supported by organisations from across industry, academia and the charity sector!

 

Blue Spark Foundation supporter logo

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