Community Partners
Global Community Challenge is on pause for 2025
Please continue checking this webpage for 2026 updates.
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
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.
Aug. 26, 2024
Student and Mentor applications open
Sept. 9, 2024
First Information session for students from international partner schools (Europe, Americas)
10-11am on zoom
Sept. 9, 2024
Second Information session for students from international partner schools (Asia/Pacific, Americas)
5-6pm on zoom
Sept. 10, 2024
Information session for students from UCalgary
Noon - 1pm in the Life Design Hub (MSC 171)
Sept. 19, 2024
Application deadline for students
Cutoff to apply: 11:59 PM
Sept. 23, 2024
Mentor application deadline
Sept. 24, 2024
Mentor acceptances announced via email
Sept. 27, 2024
Mentor training session
More details to be sent out via email to accepted mentors
From noon - 1pm.
Oct. 1, 2024
Student acceptances announced via email
Please be advised: due to limited capacity, we will only email candidates who have been selected. Thank you for your understanding.
Oct. 7, 2024
Workshop #1: Challenge Kickoff and Introduction
Details to be sent out via email to accepted students
Oct.
Workshop #2: Innovating for Impactful Projects (2024 Date TBA)
Details to be sent out via email to accepted students
Oct.
Workshop #3: Introduction to Building Your Intercultural Capacity (2024 Dates TBA)
This workshop will be run at 2 separate times this week. Details to be sent out to accepted students
Oct.
Workshop #4: Building Intercultural Awareness (2024 Date TBA)
This workshop will be run at 2 separate times this week. Details to be sent out to accepted students
Nov.
Workshop #5: Building a Strong Team (2024 Date TBA)
This workshop will be run at 2 separate times this week. Details to be sent out to accepted students
Nov.
Workshop #6: Professional Applications of Challenge Work (Nov 4 and Nov 6, 2024)
Workshop #7: Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (Asynchronous, may be completed at any point during the challenge)
These workshops may be changed earlier, or be offered asynchronously as recorded presentations. Details to be sent out to accepted students
Nov. 12, 2024
Feedback Round: From November 12-18, students will have no workshops to attend, but are expected to touch base with their community partner and their assigned UCalgary feedback judge with a draft of their project to gather feedback before preparing their presentations.
Details to be sent out to accepted students
Nov. 21, 2024
Final Presentations: November 21 is the deadline for groups to submit their presentation materials. The final presentations, Q&A periods, and judging will be held at the end of the week.
More details coming soon
Nov. 28, 2024
Challenge finals
The top 5 teams will be announced, with presentation and Q&A with the judges.
Dec. 6, 2024
Deadline for all teams to have their handover meeting with their community partner and complete any remaining workshops/discussion prompts in D2L.