Since launching in 2021, more than 200 teachers from schools and youth organizations across 48 countries have engaged with the Ciena Solutions Challenge, a global design challenge launched by Digital Promise and Ciena that invites middle and high school students globally to design solutions that address the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals within their communities.
Today, we are proud to celebrate projects of the first 17 global Ciena Solutions Challenge Sustainability Award recipients and three inaugural Ciena Solutions Challenge Model Schools in Ottawa, Canada. From a student-designed water irrigation system in Matenge Village, Botswana, to an app by students in Pennsylvania targeting food waste through smarter shopping and eating, these projects represent the creativity and innovation of young people from around the world.
Using Challenge Based Learning, teams explored big ideas, asked thoughtful questions, investigated issues in their communities, and acted to create solutions. Explore the questions they asked, and the projects they created, below and on the new Project Gallery on the Ciena Solutions Challenge website.
Project Name: Be the Dream Farm Irrigation System
Site: Dream Factory Foundation and Matenge Primary School, Matenge Village, North East District, Botswana
Essential Question: How can we make what we learn practical, fun, and relevant to our daily lives?
Project Name: Building a Learning Community with Technology
Site: Centro de Mídias da Educação de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Essential Question: How can we engage students more actively in remote classes to ensure quality education?
Project Name: Seeds for the Future
Site: EE Simpliciano Campolim de Almeida and EMEF Dr Humberto de Morais Vasconcelos, Nova Campina, São Paulo, Brazil
Essential Question: How can students spark simple but impactful ideas on sustainability to reach our community?
Project Name: Retrieving the Tales of the Emberá Chamí Community of Armenia
Site: Secretaría de Educación Municipal de Armenia, Quindío, Colombia
Essential Question: How can the young people of the Emberá Chamí retrieve the tales of their ancestors?
Project Name: Yugma
Site: City Pride School, Pune, India
Essential Question: How do we integrate children with special needs into the mainstream?
Project Name: English Enhancement with Sustainable Development – Garbage Management
Site: Zilla Parishad High School, Buldhana, India
Essential Question: How can recycling and waste management activities support academic enhancement?
Project Name: Reviving Culture and Promoting Disaster Resilience
Site: Vikas Bharati Public School, Delhi, India
Essential Question: How do we revive culture and promote disaster resilience with the help of technology?
Project Name: STEM Farm
Site: Caleb International High School, Lagos, Nigeria
Essential Question: How can youth influence their community for climate adaptation?
Tanzania
Project Name: IQ Interschool Challenge TV Program to Public Secondary School in Mwanza
Site: TELTA Mwanza, Mwanza, Tanzania
Essential Question: How can we support public secondary schools using English as a medium of instruction?
Project Name: Plant a Tree, Plant the Future and Don’t Be Drastic, Say NO to Plastic
Site: Gayaza High School, Kampala, Uganda
Essential Question: How can we improve conservation efforts and reduce plastic in our community?
Project Name: Ngora Greening Campaign, Youth Drug Abuse Prevention Campaign, and Together Against Teenage Pregnancy
Site: Ngora Girls Secondary School, Soroti City, Teso Region, Uganda
Essential Question: How can we promote the health and well-being of school-going girls in our district?
Project Name: We can be INnovative!
Site: Desert Horizon Elementary School, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Essential Question: How can sixth grade students help maintain social-emotional well-being and perform well academically?
Project Name: Quack & Save and Composting Clubhouse
Site: West Middle School, Nampa, Idaho, USA
Essential Question: How can we minimize waste through composting and help sustain native animals that live in our communities?
Project Name: Smart Pick
Site: South Fayette High School, McDonald, Pennsylvania, USA
Essential Question: How might we leverage technology to promote healthy eating habits and minimize food waste?
Project Name: Overcome CO2
Site: Mt Pleasant High School, San Jose, California, USA
Essential Question: How is everyone impacted by global warming?
Project Name: Educate About Hunger
Site: Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, Bronx, New York, USA
Essential Question: How can we solve hunger and food insecurity in our community?
Project Name: Health Food, Better Education
Site: Eveline High School, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Essential Question: What can be done to improve food and nutrition security?
Learn more about the projects above on the Project Gallery on the Ciena Solutions Challenge website and register for more info and resources to get involved.
