Photo by Denisse Leon on Unsplash - peace bridge Calgary

Community Partners

UCalgary's Global Community Challenge YYC's Fall 2024 challenge round is underway in our fifth anniversary year! Engage local & international students on issues that your organization is facing and see where the sparks fly.

How does it work?

After bringing students together into cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural teams, students will meet with your organization to gather information and context and learn about the challenges you are facing. They will be connected with mentors who will assist in the identification and development of the team’s solution to your challenge. The team will put together an online presentation, sharing their proposed solution to your issue. Presentations will be evaluated by our panel of judges. It is expected that teams consult with you at various points to receive feedback from your organization and guide their project. Your team will be expected to provide your organization with a handoff of their solution and research they have conducted for your organization to use and implement. 

What we expect from you

  • We will need you to come up with a problem/challenge for a student group to solve – ideally a real-world challenge that your organization is currently facing  
  • We expect there to be an approximate time commitment of 15-20 hours across the 8 weeks of the challenge, including: 
    • An initial meeting with the team(s) to provide them with an overview of your organization and to explain the particular issue/challenge you are facing 
    • 2-3 follow up meetings to answer questions and provide guidance as needed 
    • A handoff meeting for the team’s presentation of their solution 
  • We would ask that there be a dedicated point of contact in your organization for the student team. We will make the initial introductions between you and the student groups. After that, it is the students’ responsibility to communicate with the organization. 

Community Partner Guide

For more details about what to expect and how you will be working with students, click here to access our Community Partner Guide.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Students laughing and working, Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

What to expect from students

This challenge will be a very unique experience for all parties involved and we are so excited for our students to be part of a solution for your organization. Since you will be working with students, it's a good idea to get an understanding of the expectations we have for students in advance to guide your feedback. Check out the Student section of our website to get an understanding of our expectations of students as well as the judging criteria for the actual competition. 

Challenge Timeline

This is the tentative schedule for our Fall 2024 challenge and is subject to change.