Apply for the SDG Innovation Challenge 2022 – BusinessTrumpet News
You are young, African, and want to work with like-minded people committed to making a difference from the grassroots level up? This ideathon is open to students, professionals, community activists, social entrepreneurs, changemakers, and all other interested folks in Africa: Awaken the SDG innovator in you and sign up today!
The SDG Innovation Challenge is your space to be!
Designed as a virtual, pan-African ideation space, the SDG Innovation Challenge is a powerhouse for young people from across the continent to come together and co-develop practical solution ideas to grassroots challenges while pushing the needle of sustainable development on a global scale. Conceived in 2020, this innovation challenge calls upon participants to employ their design and complex thinking skills that solve problems in a measurable and qualitative manner. The COVID-19 pandemic left a debilitating imprint: according to the World Bank, COVID-19 has pushed nearly 40 million people into extreme poverty in Africa and harmed the economy and livelihoods in multiple ways.
The force of innovation sets the engine of sustainable growth running, developing initiatives that build resilience, empower lesser privileged sections of the population, alleviate environmental stress, and so on! Moreover, we emphasize collaboration and partnerships, in alignment with SDG 17 (Partnerships to achieve the goals), as a central axis around which our efforts are oriented!
With this background, we present the SDG Innovation Challenge 2022, which builds upon its precedents to create a bigger space for expanded outreach and wider horizons! Under the theme Transformative Solutions against Global Challenges – Accountability in Leveraging Youth Action to Create and Empower, the SDG Innovation Challenge converges young talent with three primary goals:
Following the huge success of the event in 2020 and 2021, the SDG Innovation Challenge 2022 is on again with amplified capacity this 28-30 November & 1-3 December 2022.
Why Participate?
The SDG Innovation Challenge is where motivated young Africans come together to co-develop practical innovations that further sustainable development of their local communities. There are numerous reasons to participate; here are a few of them:
Join our unique pan-African innovation space and script your SDG success story!
Registrations for the SDG Innovation Challenge 2022 close on 1 November 2022, 8 PM GMT.
To participate in one of the events happening virtually this 28-30 November & 1-3 December, you must register by 1 November 2022, before 8 PM GMT. Here are some important considerations to keep in mind!
Before registering, read through these consideration and keep these important points in mind:
Register your group by 1 November 2022 at 8 PM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) … and take a chance at creating Africa’s next Winning Sustainable Solution idea!
The registration follows a two-step process:
All registrations will be screened and undergo a pre-selection. Selected participants will be confirmed by 11 November. Once selected, groups of 4-7 participants will enter our 48 hours innovation marathon EITHER from 28-30 November OR from 1-3 December to build a team and unpack challenges faced by their local communities and relating to the Challenge theme. Together, they design practical solution ideas to strike at the roots of problems and tackle them bottom-up!
The solution ideas submitted during the event will then be assessed by an independent panel of judges. The ideas with the highest evaluation will have the opportunity to present their proposal at the 5th African Youth SDGs Summit, Africa’s biggest Sustainable Development Youth congregation. In addition, the top teams receive continued support in the form of digital literacy tools for startup upscale, support for business modeling and business registration, recommendations for investment match-making opportunities, access to business incubation, pro-bono mentorship, and more. To crown it all, an SDG Innovation Fund will soon launch to crowdsource financial support for leading project ideas!
What We Seek
The SDG Innovation Challenge is open to participation from young people across Africa.
You want to work across domains and gain insights into the brightest minds tackling sustainable development from the grassroots level up? Here is an opportunity for young, pan-African social innovators and entrepreneurs to change the world, one idea at a time!
Registration for the challenge happens on a group basis. Please see the “How to Participate” section for more.
Following the registration deadline, participants will receive further instructions about the activities and the technologies deployed during the event. And then, the challenge is on: Each participating group must be an interdisciplinary team and develop a solution idea which they will consolidate in a short video pitch at the end of the challenge.
The SDG Innovation Challenge 2022 is a 48-hours innovation marathon. Keep a close watch on this space to stay updated on the latest dates and times of the events!. Registrations remain open until 1 November 2022, 8 PM GMT. SIGN UP TODAY!