Brent Powell serves as Director of School 合作伙伴hips for the 社区 Changemaker Challenge and is in the process of founding a new educational nonprofit to help expand the CCC and bring Design Challenge 学习ing to even more schools. 可以联系到他 brentnall.powell@wxyxsteel.com.
的中 换零钱机协作's (a partnership of the 可持续发展研究所, Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics and the Carsey School of Public Policy) sixth annual UNH 社区 Changemaker Challenge (CCC) took place for New England high school students on May 12. An outgrowth of the popular UNH idea-stage competition the Social Venture Innovation Challenge (SVIC), this year’s CCC featured the greatest number of schools, 团队, and students that we have ever hosted.
和SVIC一样, students are charged with the task – identify a sustainability problem (defined broadly and using the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a suggested framework) in your community, 地区, 或者在世界的其他地方, and use an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to develop an idea to address it. What the students produce amazes and inspires.
今年, students from six schools – Berwick Academy, 州长的奥斯卡, 菲利普斯埃克塞特学院, 第二自然学院, 牡蛎河高中, and Portsmouth High School – sent a total of fourteen 团队, comprising 45 students to the competition. Students addressed problems ranging from homelessness to climate change, safety for the elderly to harm resulting from sunscreen. They arrived with well-rehearsed pitches, 原型, and creative videos to express their ideas in front of a panel of judges.
Fiona Wilson, Deputy Chief 可持续性 Officer for UNH and the Director of the 联合国大学可持续发展研究所, opened the event by putting the CCC into the larger context of UNH and by saying, “this program that engages and supports high school students across our 地区 is just one of the ways that we are fulfilling our educational mission and aspiration to support the development of a half a million changemakers in the coming decade.”
With fourteen different entries, the students were divided across two rooms. Once their videos were shown and a short pitch was given, each team faced ten minutes of questions from the judges. These questions focused on the origins of the innovation, what else exists in the marketplace that attempts to solve the problem, 做了什么样的研究啊, 以及财政如何运作? 事后, judges shared similar comments as in years past, praising the students for the “sensitivity, 同情, and intelligence their projects displayed.” One judge even said that she hoped to bring the new infusion of energy she was feeling back to her team at work.
学生们也很享受这一天, and when asked: “What have you learned/gained through competing in the 社区 Changemaker Challenge?”, here is what a few of them said:
- “研究的重要性, 团队协作, and the need to reach out to people who can help with a venture and those who hopefully would benefit.”
- “创造力是关键”
- “How to work with others and how to develop an idea into a legitimate opportunity”
- “I have learned there are many problems happening in the world and we humans have to step up and find the best solution.”
- “Seeing others’ projects inspires me in my own projects, it makes me less afraid to present an idea.”
After almost an hour of deliberation, the judges emerged with results. We hope you’ll take the time to view the student videos which show the collaboration and creative problem-solving the CCC inspires in our local high school students.
赢家:
BIOThermal (第二自然学院)
An innovative way to generate renewable energy using organic matter. 观看视频.
Guardian Angel (州长的奥斯卡)
A health detection device that can automatically call 911 for help when needed, trying to make seniors live a safer and more secure life. 观看视频.
亚军:
EduRoad (菲利普斯埃克塞特学院)
A center for resources that all people, no matter what their socioeconomic status, can access and receive personalized help. 观看视频.
Engineering through the Ethics of Care (牡蛎河高中)
A curriculum that teaches high school students engineering through the framework of Ethics of Care to increase empathy and diversity in engineering. 观看视频.
