Do you have a disruptive idea to address the climate crisis and help attain a more sustainable environment? This year, Case Western Reserve University was invited to participate in a global student competition on United Nations Sustainable Development Goal. No 13 on climate action, sponsored by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
CWRU is the sole participating U.S. university. CWRU’s participation will be coordinated through the Great Lakes Energy Institute. Teams must be formed and ideas must be submitted by March 1, with CWRU selecting three teams to represent the university by March 15.
Three to five students (undergraduate or graduate) will comprise each team. Teams will propose a solution related to the general topic of “climate action.”
Solutions must have disruptive potential, be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and be technically feasible. The proposals can be at any development stage: they can be an idea, a pilot project or an existing project that needs further development. They do not necessarily have to be unpublished. Finally, the potential outcomes of students’ work should include analyses of needs, potentials, barriers and opportunities to use the capabilities of business and industry offerings. They should enhance understanding of technical, legal, economical or sociological aspects of how the solutions can support the development of a region. Students can design, analyze and suggest concrete solutions for narrowing, slowing, and/or closing resource loops, minimizing energy demand and use, regenerating resources and materials, and creating, supplying and using data.
Once selected, the advancing three teams will receive mentorship help from Siemens Gamesa (the program sponsor) to improve their presentation. One of the three CWRU teams would be selected for the final competition, with the winner being recognized in late September in a virtual awards ceremony. The winning team will receive $10,000.
The other competing Universities are: Tsinghua University in China, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Nelson Mandela University of South Africa, University of Göttingen in Germany, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Students looking to sign up their team should attend a virtual information session Monday, Feb. 6, at 4 p.m. Sign up for the session.