The SDG Olympiad

Initial situation

Created in 2016, the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Summer School aims to train teams of students to design innovative projects in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For example, the theme of the 2024 edition was “Planetary Health”, with a focus on the impact of climate change on human health. Initially on a local scale, the SDG Summer School now benefits from an international reach thanks to the participation of numerous partner universities around the world who organize SDG Summer Schools or similar events at their institutions. This expansion has led to the creation of the SDG Olympiad, giving the event a truly global dimension.

Project implementation

The SDG Summer School, part of the Geneva Summer Schools (GSS), welcomes around 24 Bachelor’s and master’s students from a variety of disciplines each year. This four-week program, credited with 6 ECTS, focuses on team-based problem-solving. The format is hybrid: teams work locally in the SDG Solution Space - an innovative space dedicated to students in the heart of international Geneva - while collaborating online with other summer schools.

During these four weeks, theoretical courses and practical activities, with a particular focus on the development of cross-disciplinary skills, alternate. Cultural and institutional visits are organized to enable students to discover emblematic places in Geneva, such as the Red Cross Museum, the United Nations and CERN. Students also attend several expert talks and participate in “brown bag lunches”, which give them the opportunity to have informal discussions with external speakers about their career paths.

The aim of this school month is to carry out projects inspired by concrete challenges formulated by experts from International Geneva. Working in close collaboration, the 6 teams of 4 to 5 students, accompanied by a PhD student from the Institute of Global Health acting as coach, engage in a rapid, iterative prototyping process to design a solution to the challenge they have chosen to tackle. The solution found has the potential to be adopted by the entity proposing the challenge.

Each week, teams present the progress of their project in the form of a 3–5 minute pitch, followed by a question-and-answer session. In 2024, teams from Geneva, Paris, Lagos and Nairobi will share their progress simultaneously in front of the other participants. To enrich this presentation dynamic, experts take part in these sessions and provide constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement to the teams. Teams are invited to incorporate these recommendations into their work over the following week, reinforcing their collaborative and iterative approach to project development.

The final evaluation of the SDG Summer School takes place during the fourth week. Teams are evaluated by a panel of judges according to pre-defined criteria, and gold, silver and bronze awards, as well as special prizes (e.g. for use of open-source solutions) are given to the best projects. To obtain certification, active and assiduous attendance is required, with a minimum participation rate of 75%. The best team, which receives the gold award, is invited to take part in the SDO Olympics, where it will be represented by one or two members.

Each participating university, whether based in Geneva, Lagos, Paris, Abu Dhabi or Bangkok, organizes a competition based on common criteria to select its best-performing team. The selected teams are invited to the awards ceremony, which also serves as an opportunity to develop more concrete operating plans for these projects. In 2024, this took place at Université Paris Cité’s Learning Planet Institute, just after the Olympics, in partnership with the University of Geneva. A jury made up of leaders in the field of sustainability, including representatives from the United Nations, the International Olympic Committee, NGOs, companies and the technology network, evaluates the projects. The event is a unique opportunity for teams to meet potential partners and sponsors.

Thoughts and advice

A key factor in project quality is the availability of mentors. Teams that receive detailed advice from their mentor every week during the SDG Summer School progress more quickly. The coaching role played by PhD students is particularly effective when they join the teams in person each week. Zoom coaching does not have the same impact.

To create objectively balanced teams, the teacher uses artificial intelligence. Each student fills in a questionnaire about his or her interests, skills, personality and project preferences. This information is used to optimize the distribution of participants and form complementary groups.

The teacher points out that organizing an event such as the awards ceremony requires a major commitment. For the 2024 event, 4 student interns from the IHDS Master’s program - Ivonne Arica, Jemy Jacob, Iuri Pires and Sophie Schegg - and a member of the administrative staff were mobilized on a part-time basis, to complement the teacher’s investment. At the prize-giving ceremony, representatives of the partner universities got together in focus groups to discuss organizational aspects and funding requirements to ensure the sustainability of future editions of the SDO Olympiad. The issue of project documentation was also addressed, with the aim of making it more accessible and reusable for future generations. An issue of SDGZine, a journal produced by Geneva-based NGO Addictlab, was produced, with chapters for each project.

Student feedback

“The SDG Olympiad was nothing short of a transformative experience for me. Beyond the invaluable workshops and the opportunity to pitch our team’s project in front of a large audience, this event connected me with like-minded, ambitious individuals – people with a fire in their eyes and a shared passion for creating global impact.”

“Participating in the SDG Olympiad was a transformative experience that deepened my commitment to innovation and sustainability. This experience has strengthened my resolve to expand Plasticonn and encourage more environmental accountability in Nigeria and the rest of the world.”

“The SDG Olympiad 2024 shifted my perspective, making me more committed to sustainability and real-world problemsolving. It showed me that with the right ideas and collaboration, young minds can drive real change.”