Over the past few months of the Coronavirus emergency, many of us have spent long hours at home and most likely during this time period we have encountered at least one problem that would have been easier to solve with the help of other people. Numerous organizations are having similar difficulties with new challenges that have arisen due to the interruption or limitation of their traditional means of collaboration and are thus seeking new ways of solving problems.
As a pro-active response, the University of Calgary has launched their Fall 2020 Global Community Challenge which proposes current, real-world challenges faced by existing community organizations to small groups of university students from all over the world for analysis and innovative solutions. Admitted candidates will be divided into various interdisciplinary and international teams of 5 to 6 students with a Mentor assigned to each group.
For a 6-week period starting in mid-October, each group will focus on one organization’s challenge and participate in 3 or 4 meetings with their Mentor, in addition to 5 workshops and continual dialogue among team members.
The total time commitment is approximately 30 hours, including the team’s presentation of their unique solution to the challenge.
Each solution will be judged according to explicit criteria and the best ones may be implemented by participating community organizations.
The University of Trento has an institutional partnership with the University of Calgary and encourages interested students to participate in the Challenge free of charge. Upon successful and certified completion of the Challenge, students may be awarded UniTrento elective credits according to the regulations of each Department. For specific questions about credits students should contact their relevant Student Support and Study Program Offices.
More importantly, other than the potential credits earned, UniTrento students will have the opportunity to further develop important competencies related to employment and life in general: teamwork, creativity, analytical and problem-solving skills in a dynamic and multi-cultural environment.
The on-line application must be sent to the University of Calgary by October 2nd, 2020.
For more details and requirements see the Useful Links Box on this page.
For more specific information about the initiative please contact the University of Calgary directly at: global.challenge [at] ucalgary.ca