Induction Period Challenge.

Working in a team

This will be your first time working in a team whilst at University. You will learn a lot about what it is like working with others, and how you yourself contribute to a team.

Leadership

All teams will have a Peer Mentor; however, they should not automatically be the leader of the group. It is best to see if a natural leader emerges, perhaps from the initial conversation.

Collaborating at a distance

Working remotely and collaboratively has become more of the norm over recent months. To do this we recommend using Microsoft Teams, which you can access through your Newcastle University email.

Ensure to be mindful of everyone’s commitments and timetables.

As a reminder, your task is: "Picking just one of the SDGs to focus on, develop a proposal for Newcastle University to implement which will help the University get closer to your chosen goal by 2030"

Step 1:

Pick an SDG to focus on

As a group, you are invited to select the SDG you are most passionate about working on for the challenge.

"The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. The 17 Goals were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the Goals."

We invite you to watch this video about the SDGs created by the United Nations, which focuses on the solutions and action we need to tackle poverty, inequality, injustice and climate change.

The UK Government have also released a webpage outlining their responses to each of the SDGs which you can access here

For a selection of useful resources relating to the goals see the RELX SDG Resource Centre

Step 2:

Research the university

What can the university implement? The university is a big place, and you are new to it. This is a perfect opportunity to understand and familiarise yourself with your place of study and to help you in approaching the challenge. Look here to get you started:

• Global Challenges Academy - Meeting UN Sustainable Develeopment Goals
• Newcastle University - Who We Are 
• Newcastle University - Student Home Page
• LibGuides - Sustainability 
• Newcastle University - Sustainable Campus
• Newcastle University - The Impact 2020 

Step 3: Be inspired by last year’s ideas

Last year’s challenge ideas generated ideas that would work for this task:

• The university implementing a system whereby students can select their own pronouns. (SDG: Gender equality)
• The university launching a ‘Fight for Zero Hunger’ 10 credit module, available to all students. (SDG: No hunger)
• A bottle bank scheme, where students are rewarded for recycling plastic bottles (SDG: Responsible consumption and production)
• A water bottle donation scheme with incentives (SDG: Clean water for all)

Further case studies from our SDG poster competition can be accessed here. 

There is a myth that only ‘creative’ people can generate ideas. This is not true! We all have the capacity to generate ideas, as we all have both a left and right side of our brains. However, a lot of us have difficulty in accessing the right, the more creative brain. However, certain factors can help us do this:

Being in a collaborative group.

• Group work fosters creativity as you can get inspired by others and add to ideas generated by the group.
• Knowing that there is an assessed result, and a potential prize can help generate creative thinking.

Being in a competitive environment.

Being in a timed scenario.

• Having a deadline can force us to create, instead of procrastinating.
• Using an established process can help creativity a lot more than staring at a blank piece of paper. Using an idea generation process, we go through two steps of thinking: Divergent thinking and Convergent thinking.

Using an idea generation process.

Divergent Thinking and Convergent Thinking

• Divergent thinking prioritises quantity over quality, you are encouraged to come up with as many ideas as quickly as possible without any judgements from yourself, or from others. Some of what you will ideate will not be any good at all, and that's okay!
• Convergent thinking focuses upon analysing and critiquing the ideas generated as a group, using the original challenge question as reference. You may perhaps combine some ideas together to make a new one.

It is important that these thinking processes are divided across two separate tasks, you cannot ideate creatively and freely whilst critically evaluating at the same time!

Individual and group exercises

When you meet with your group, we recommend following the idea generation exercise together live, in real time, to help replicate the needed environment (collaborative, competitive and timed). Watch this video for further information.

Once you have the workings of your idea, you will need to develop it further. We are not expecting a full working model, campaign, or product. We are only expecting to see some further detail of your idea. The questions below will help you do this.

• Route issue – what does your solution address?
• Innovation – how is this a unique idea?
• Target market – who exactly will you target? Why will your idea work for them?
• Viability – how would it work in practice? Who are your key partners? What are your estimation of costs? What resources are needed?

You can also use the Business Model Canvas or the Marketing Campaign Model Canvas which will help visualise elements of your idea. You can use this together in your groups or individually.

Watch this video on the Business Model Canvas for further information.

What to submit

As noted, you are not expected to finalise a finished product, service, process or campaign. You are expected to explore, develop and outline your idea for the judges. Your submission should give a comprehensive overview of:

• What problem your idea is solving – what route issue did you identify?
• Your idea – a summary of your solution to the route issue
• How and why is it innovative – what makes it different?
• Your target market – a breakdown of who this idea is for
• How it will work – key partners, estimation of costs, resources needed

You have options of what you choose to submit your final idea from the pitching guidance, which indicates format and timings. There is no right or wrong choice, we encourage you to pick the medium that will best convey your idea and help yours stand out. Remember, judges will be looking at many submissions. It is important to cover all the questions asked of you, but:

• Do not go into too much detail
• Keep it visually engaging
• Remember what we are looking for

Judges will use these judging criteria  to select the winners. They are looking at a combination of the workings of your idea and how it is presented. The more you can follow the guidance, the more chance you have in scoring higher.

How to submit

Peer mentors are asked to upload the final submission on behalf of the group to Canvas by 23 October 2022.

What next?

Once you have submitted, you are done! Many congratulations on completing the challenge. Your submission will be assessed by the judging panel and the winners will receive their prizes and invitation to the Global Student Sustainability Conference in November 2022.

Well done on completing the challenge! Please see below for guidance on useful activities and resources now you have completed the challenge.

We would be grateful if you could complete our short evaluation survey.

Think about your skills

We recommend looking at Newcastle University’s Graduate Attribute Framework, which lists 12 key skills which employers have indicated graduates should possess. Use the Challenge experience to help you identify your stronger skills and reflect on areas of weakness. The Graduate Attribute Framework website has some useful resources and ideas of how you could develop your skills throughout your time at university.

Participate in similar opportunities:

• You may be interested in joining Enactus Newcastle which focuses on the establishment and running of social enterprises that tackle local and global issues in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
• Look at the Student Union’s wide selection of societies as well as representation activities. You could volunteer to be a course representative or environmental representative.
• If you have enjoyed coming up with an idea, you may want to access support and opportunities from the START UP team, who are keen to work with students who have ideas to begin their own venture or business.

Register for the ncl+ award

If you haven't already, we encourage you to apply for the ncl+ award and use the hours you have accumulated as part of the challenge towards the needed 40 hours needed to be eligible for the award. The ncl+ Award is a way for you to demonstrate skills to employers. If you're an undergraduate student, you can also gain recognition and credit on your Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) for the time and effort you put into extra-curricular activities.