Young Academics Track

Students teams from Denmark, Korea, India, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Colombia, Mexico and USA will be selected to join this unique and exiting innovation journey

Solution blogs are under development, and final versions will be published by 14th of September.

Challenge-based Learning

The Young Academic Track focuses on challenge-based learning, where university students from partnering countries work in teams to develop their ideas and solutions to one of 6 sustainability challenges. The sustainability challenges are brought forward by global partners and the selected student teams will be provided with a detailed challenge brief along with direct contact and mentorship from the challenge partners. 

More info

Program

The Young Academics Track takes students through an innovation journey consisting of a 3-week hybrid development period and a week together in Copenhagen sharing ideas and perspectives, and joining the Digital Tech Summit.

Development

During the 3-week development period, the students develop solutions to given sustainability challenges. The process is divided into four phases; Scoping, Ideation, Execution, and Delivery.

During the Scoping phase, the student teams challenge the given challenge, gaining a deeper understanding of it and identifying which aspects of the challenge they want to address.

During the Ideation phase, the student teams generate different solutions to their chosen scope.

During the Execution phase, the student teams consolidate their ideas into a single concept.

During the Delivery phase, the student teams test and further specify their concept before delivering a blog post describing their final solution.

Summit

Student teams and supervisors are invited to Copenhagen for an eight day program joining workshops, visiting local partners and sharing their ideas at the Digital Tech Summit.

Main objectives

The tracks main objective is to equip students with key competencies to work with external partners in a semi-facilitated global innovation journey to turn a sustainability challenge into a solution that they will pitch and present at an international congress for feedback and acceleration.

Learning objectives

A student who has met the objectives of the track will be able to:

  • Demonstrate an understanding and application of an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset
  • Select and apply adequate methods and tools for working in the different stages of an innovative development process
  • Explain and apply the principles of universal design
  • Contribute with own disciplinary background in the different stages of the innovation process
  • Develop and test prototypes to validate technical and business hypotheses
  • Create a business plan and make a pitch
  • Create a plan for congress participation and inviting for partnerships
  • Give and receive constructive and appropriate feedback to and from team members and international teams
  • Communicate the design of a fitting innovation concept in relation to the problem at hand to relevant stakeholders
  • Present and drive forward ideas into an international congress

Challenge 1

Reshaping existing infrastructure to nature-positive urban areas

How might we leverage digital technologies to better facilitate integration of nature-based solutions in existing infrastructure?

Challenge 2

Tracing Aflatoxin in agricultural produce

How might we use emerging digital technologies to detect toxins in agricultural crops?

Challenge 3

Citizen science supporting water loss management

How might we leverage digital technologies to engage citizens in water loss management and change their behaviours to improve water security?

Challenge 4

Transforming Citizen Engagement in Ghana through Large Language Models

How might we digitise parliamentary registers and develop a user-friendly platforms that enhances the use of data and statistics in legislative processes?

Challenge 5

Data driven water security and safety in rural India

How Might We create easy-to-use, inclusive digital tools that enable rural households and communities to assess, access, and act on water quality and availability of data?

Challenge 6

Financial transparency in Public Works

How might we use advanced digital solutions to ensure full traceability of public finance flows to combat corruption?