The Student Challenge

This Student Challenge celebrates students' work during their degree, supporting their development and shaping their thinking.

The Student Challenge invites entrants to use their university group project to explore, identify, and maximise opportunities for positive impacts on people and the planet.

Entrants must submit a description of the positive impacts they have explored within their project, using the project brief and their university work as context.

Each submission must address the question:
How does your project contribute to the long-term well-being of people and the planet?

To aid in the development of their response to the overall Student Challenge question, four quadrants of thinking are presented below. These cover local and global aspects of environmental and human impacts. Within each quadrant are a selection of questions that the submissions are encouraged to explore.

Submissions must touch upon all four quadrants but are only expected to develop a more significant response to two.

How does your project impact local ecology?

How has your project strengthened the interconnection of local people with nature?

What measures have you taken to strengthen local wildlife habitats and native plant species during and after construction?

What long-term impacts will your project have on the local biodiversity? Consider changes the project could trigger and their influence on the local natural ecosystems.

How does your project impact the health of the whole planet?

How have you minimised planet-harming impacts such as pollution and carbon emissions?

In your work how have you considered impacts at the second site, those places where your materials come from, where they are processed and where waste goes to?

Have the materials that your project uses be sourced as part of natural cycles which support biodiversity and reduce harms?

Has your work supported the establishment of circular material systems?

How does your project help local people thrive?

How does your project respond to the needs of the place where your project is based?

What benefits has the creation of your project generated for local people?

How have your developed through cocreation with and strengthened the community where your project is based?

How have you developed the use of locally abundant material resources?

How does your project help the well-being of all people?

How does your work contribute to positive change in the development of the future built environment?

How does your material use now provide a valuable resource for future generations?

How does your design ensure that future generations are not burdened with potential dangers due to careless creation of materials and projects?