SDG Impact Challenge

Saturday, March 20, 2021 11:00 am - Sunday, March 21, 2021 12:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)
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Are you ready to challenge yourself to make an impact in the Waterloo community? 

UW’s Impact Alliance and Global Spark are hosting a virtual solutions hackathon called the “SDG Impact Challenge''. This event has partnered with three local organizations who are tackling some of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE), the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3) and Food4Kids.

The SDG Impact Challenge will be held from Saturday, March 20 to Sunday, March 21, 2021, using Zoom and Discord. Students must register by Wednesday, March 17 at 11:59pm. Please see the Agenda below for more details.

Teams of four will choose one of the organizations’ problem statements and have 24 hours to develop an innovative solution to address it. These solutions will be submitted to the judging panel as a 5-minute pitch presentation. 

The three winning solutions are eligible to win cash prizes of up to CAD$400 per team! Please see the Terms & Conditions for eligibility details for winning the cash prizes (note: only University of Waterloo students are eligible for the cash prize). The winning teams will also have a chance to work with Impact Alliance in Spring 2021 to implement their proposed solution in the Waterloo Region! More details for implementation will be provided to the winning teams.  

The problem questions are as follows:

FOOD: Food4Kids

SDG #2 (Zero Hunger), SDG #12 (Responsible Production & Consumption)

Waterloo Region is home to many local food producers. Currently, the food used in Food4Kids Waterloo Region packages is purchased from grocery stores, specialty food outlets and food wholesalers that bear a number of negative externalities. How could Food4Kids Waterloo Region tap into our local food production system and work with local producers as a means of sourcing fresh, healthy, and affordable foods that support a sustainable food program?

More information on this problem question can be found here.

CLIMATE: Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3)

SDG #13 (climate action), SDG #10 (Reduced inequalities), and SDG #11 (Sustainable cities and communities)

COVID-19 has significantly reduced commuting to and from campus. As we prepare to transition back to life on campus it is critical that we explore sustainable commuting options. How can students maintain lower carbon footprints post-COVID-19 when commuting and travel resume?

More information on this problem question can be found here.

ENERGY: Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE)

SDG #7 (Affordable and clean energy)

COVID-19 is affecting residential energy consumers’ ability to pay for electricity. Late payments, arrearages, and bad debt are resulting in lost revenues and additional expenses for utilities, which affects their ability to provide affordable, clean, and reliable energy. What supports could be provided to consumers or utilities to help abate this problem?

More information on this problem question can be found here.

Registration deadline: Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 11:59 PM

Our Opening Ceremony will feature remarks from: 

Dean Jean

Dean Jean Andrey

Dean Wells

Dean Mary Wells

Beth Eden

Beth Eden

Agenda

Day 1

11:00am - Opening Ceremony (Zoom Link available upon registration)

12:00pm - Breakout Rooms to connect with teams and set up Discord

5:00pm - First round of questions using Discord

9:00pm - Second round of questions using Discord

11:59pm - Submissions are open! Submission link will be provided to participants

Day 2

10:00am - Third round of questions using Discord

11:59am - Deadline to submit solutions! Submission link will be provided to participants

12:00pm - Closing Ceremony (Zoom Link available upon registration)

Winners and Honourable Mentions of the SDG Impact Challenge will be announced in the week following the challenge. Keep an eye out on your emails and make sure you follow our socials @sdgimpactalliance & @global.spark!

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Frequently Asked Questions
Who can participate?

You must be an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled at any global post-secondary institution. 

Can I participate individually?

Yes! Use the registration link to indicate you are registering individually and we will partner you with other individuals to make up teams of 4!

I already have a team of 4 - should I register individually or all together?

Even if you have a team of 4 already, all members are required to register individually at the registration link! Ensure that all 4 members list your team name or the remaining team members on the Google Form, and we will keep your team together. 

I have a team of less than 4 - how should I register?

No worries! If you have more than 1 but less than 4 members, you can still use the registration link to sign up as a team. We will pair you up with other individual(s) so that there end up being a total of 4 members on your team!

Do I need a University of Waterloo student on my team to be eligible to participate?

No! 4 person teams can be formed without University of Waterloo students. Please note that non-University of Waterloo students will not be eligible for cash prizes, as mentioned in the Terms & Conditions section. 

Do I have to answer all 3 problem questions?

No! Your team’s solution will only address 1 of 3 problem questions. When you register, you will have to choose your first preference of which problem question you want to address. We cannot guarantee that you get your first preference for the problem question, especially if you register individually. Please see the additional information on each problem question to help make your first preference decision. These backgrounders can be found under each individual problem question above.  

What does the Round of Questions using Discord mean?

Throughout the event, there are 3 opportunities for participants to pose questions to the organizing team, partner organizations, and our panel of topic experts. These questions will be submitted using our Discord channel and we will try our best to get back to you as soon as possible. 

How will we be submitting our proposed solutions?

Each team will work on a 5-minute pitch presentation that effectively communicates their proposed solution. Details for the format of the presentation will be provided during the event. Each team will make 1 submission to the Submission Link (which will be provided to participants). 

How will our solutions be evaluated?

There will be a panel of judges that evaluates your proposed solutions. Please see the Judging Criteria section below for more details.

When will we find out the winners of the event?

The organising team will announce the winners of the event in the following week after the event via email to all the registrants and over our social media channels @sdgimpactalliance & @global.spark. Honourable mentions will also be mentioned via the same methods of communication. Keep an eye out on your inboxes and follow us to find out!

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Prizes
How many winners will be there?

Each problem question will have one winning team, so a total of 3 teams of 4 students each will win the event. This means that a total of 12 students will be eligible for the individual cash prize of CAD$100 each. Please note that only University of Waterloo students will be awarded the cash prizes, as mentioned in the Terms & Conditions section below. There may also be honorary mentions of projects, but these will not be awarded cash prizes. 

What are the prizes for the winning teams?

There is a CAD$100 individual cash prize for the 12 winning students (3 teams made up of 4 team members). Please note that only University of Waterloo students will be awarded the cash prizes, as stated in the Terms & Conditions section below.

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Terms & Conditions

Eligibility for winning the cash prize:

  • Only undergraduate or graduate students currently enrolled at the University of Waterloo are eligible for the individual cash prize of CAD$100.
  • Examples of situations that may arise and how they will be addressed:
    • A team of all 4 non-University of Waterloo students wins: your project will get recognized as the winner, but no team members will be eligible for the CAD$100 individual cash prize.
    • A team of 1 University of Waterloo student and 3 students from another Canadian post-secondary university wins: your project will get recognized as the winner, only the 1 student currently enrolled at the University of Waterloo will be eligible for the cash prize.
    • A team of 2 University of Waterloo students and 2 students from another Canadian post-secondary university wins: your project will get recognized as the winner, only the 2 students currently enrolled at the University of Waterloo will be eligible for the cash prize.
    • A team of 3 University of Waterloo students and 1 student from another Canadian post-secondary university wins: your project will get recognized as the winner, only the 3 students currently enrolled at the University of Waterloo will be eligible for the cash prize.
    • A team of all 4 University of Waterloo students wins: your project will get recognized as the winner; all 4 team members will be eligible for the CAD$100 individual cash prize.
  • To receive the individual cash prizes, winning students agree to complete all necessary documentation as requested by University of Waterloo’s Sustainability Office.
  • The individual cash prize of CAD$100 per University of Waterloo student winner will be reported on their T4 for income tax purposes. 
  • The cash prize will be awarded to eligible students via cheque or Direct Deposit. 
  • Please direct any further questions regarding the terms & conditions of the SDG Impact Challenge to Jahanvi Desai (jahanvi.desai@sdsnyouth.org)

Judging Criteria
How will the winners be decided?

We will be using the following rubric for deciding the winning teams:

Criteria

Mark

Quality of Solution: 

How effectively would the proposed solution help solve the problem question? Does it encourage positive change in Waterloo Region? 

/5

Feasibility of Solution: 

How feasible is the proposed solution? How does the cost of the developing the solution fare when compared to the value it would generate?

/5

Easy to understand: 

Is the proposed solution easy to understand? Would it be user-friendly if implemented?

/5

Originality of Solution: 

How innovative is the proposed solution? Is it a fresh approach to the problem question?

/5

Presentation: 

How well was the proposed solution presented in the pitch? Did the pitch give you a good idea of the purpose and effectively communicate the outcomes?

/5

Relation to the SDGs: 

Does the proposed solution achieve progress in the related Sustainable Development Goals?

/5

Bonus Mark:

The judges reserve the right to award this bonus mark if they are convinced that the solution can succeed, the way the team approaches and solves the problem is unique, and the submission stands out from the others! 

/1

Total

/31

The team with the highest total score in each problem question category will win that category.

Who will be deciding the winners?

Our judging panel will be announced during the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, March 21 at 12 PM! Make sure you tune in!

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Implementation
Do I have to implement the solution if I win?

Impact Alliance is excited to be partnering with winning teams to give them a chance to implement their proposed solutions over the Spring 2021 term! However, this is not mandatory and if the winning team would not like to go ahead, they do not have to. 

I didn't win, but I want to implement my proposed solution - What can I do?

If you are extremely interested in implementing your solution even though you did not win, please reach out to Jahanvi Desai (jahanvi.desai@sdsnyouth.org). Proposed solutions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and evaluated for potential implementation. 

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Please direct any further questions regarding the event to Jahanvi Desai (jahanvi.desai@sdsnyouth.org).

      

Global Spark

          

Impact Alliance

           

SDG Student Hub