Launched in 2014 through the support of Ambassador Jenö Staehelin and the patronage of Kofi Annan, The Geneva Challenge is an international competition whose objective is to stimulate interdisciplinary problem solving and analysis among master students. Open to teams of between 3 to 5 students from anywhere in the world, the theme for the 2018 contest will be ‘The Challenges of Climate Change’.

“This is a very important and exciting topic”, says Joëlle Noailly, Head of Research at the Graduate Institute’s Centre for International Environmental Studies. “Climate change touches upon many issues from gender, migration, international justice, business and finance, technology, energy, agriculture etc. The contest is also very timely as Trump’s rejection of the Paris climate agreement last year initiated a mounting call for action at both local and international levels. “

Students can register for the 2018 Challenge until May 7. Student teams will then have four months to work on their proposal, with submissions due on August 20th.

“My advice to students would be to start from a practical example of how climate change affects them or the local communities they care about”, says Joëlle. “It’s often useful to start small to elaborate pragmatic solutions. The next step is then to brainstorm on how these small steps can be scaled up to maximize their impact.”  

Five finalist teams, one per continent, will be invited (traveling and accommodation expenses covered) to an oral presentation in Geneva. The winning project will be awarded CHF 10,000; the two teams in second place will receive CHF 5,000 and the two teams in third place, CHF 2,500.

You can learn more in the short video below.