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C.I.V.I.S Sustainability Challenge: an interdisciplinary learning initiative for real‑world impact

The C.I.V.I.S. (Creative, Innovative, Visionary, Interdisciplinary, and Socially responsible) Sustainability Challenge (or CSC) is an interdisciplinary, challenge-based learning experience connecting university resources towards developing impactful solutions to real-world challenges. Developed within the European Civic University Alliance, it is coordinated by the Université libre de Bruxelles and implemented at 6 partner universities in Europe and Africa.

The project addresses the growing need for hands-on, socially responsible education that bridges teaching, research, and societal impact. It engages students from diverse disciplines to work alongside  local stakeholders, such as NGOs, municipalities, and civil society organisations, in an intensive 48-hour challenge, combining academic knowledge, civic engagement, and innovation. Promising solutions will be encouraged to further develop through incubators and mentoring programmes, and Open Labs.

Part of the Open Labs, the Challenge provides a scalable model for interdisciplinary, participatory learning across the CIVIS Alliance.

Learn more about the project

Main Beneficiaries & Social Impact

Main Beneficiaries

  • Students (final-year bachelor’s, master’s, and postmaster’s) from all disciplines at CIVIS partner universities.
  • Local stakeholders (NGOs, municipalities, social enterprises, community organisations) involved in defining and evaluating challenges.
  • Academic staff and researchers engaged in interdisciplinary teaching and participatory research.

Participation takes place through open calls, preparatory learning modules, onsite 48-hour challenges, mentoring sessions, and a hybrid inter-university final. Approximately 20–50 students per university are typically involved in local challenges, with finalists advancing to the final CIVIS-wide event.

Social Impact

The CSC strengthens sustainability skills, teamwork, leadership, and ethical reasoning among student participants, while fostering civic engagement and cross-cultural collaboration. For stakeholders, it delivers fresh ideas, actionable solutions, and stronger university–community partnerships. At the institutional level, it contributes to curricular innovation and scalable models for challenge-based learning, reinforcing CIVIS Open Labs’ mission to cocreate knowledge with and for society.

Core Methodology

The CSC uses a Challenge-Based Participatory Learning approach, combining interdisciplinary teamwork, stakeholder cocreation, real world case studies, mentoring, and reflective practice. Students work on authentic sustainability challenges through intensive workshops and prototyping, supported by academic, professional, and civic partners.

Events in the Project

Event Name

Date(s)

Location

Description (purpose, audience)

Open Lab Brussels

Sustainability Challenge

20 and 21 March, 2026

Open Lab Brussels, Usquare campus

48-hour hackathon for selected students from ULB

     

     

     

     

CIVIS Sustainability Challenge at UofG   

 

6 and 7 March 2026

Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow  

 

 

2-day hackathon for students from Glasgow   

Sustainability Challenge at UAM

2 and 9 March 2026

Cantoblanco Campus

2-day activity for selected students from UAM

NKUA Sustainability Challenge

27 and 28 March

2026

 

 

Makerere University Uganda     

5 to 7 March 2026     

Innovation & Invention Centre     

   Two days activity in the Innovation Lab  

Take-Aways

The project brings together interdisciplinary and international student teams to address real societal challenges through a strong collaboration between universities and local stakeholders. Designed in a hybrid local-to-global format, it reduces its environmental footprint while maintaining broad international engagement. Moving from ideas to impact, the initiative provides structured follow-up support through incubators and fab labs, ensuring that promising concepts can evolve into tangible solutions. As a replicable model aligned with CIVIS Open Labs and the UN SDGs, it offers a sustainable and scalable framework for future challenge-based collaborations.

Local stakeholder partner

Working with students brought fresh perspectives to our sustainability challenge and opened new paths for collaboration with the university

Local stakeholder partner

Partners

Université libre de Bruxelles

Academic    

The Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) is a leading research-intensive university committed to critical thinking, academic freedom, and social responsibility. Through its teaching and research activities, ULB actively contributes to interdisciplinary approaches addressing contemporary societal challenges, including sustainability, environmental responsibility, and education for social change.  

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Academic  

The Environmental Education Lab (EEL), based in the Department of Educational Studies, School of Philosophy, at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), is a research and academic hub advancing knowledge and critical engagement in Environmental and Sustainability Education.

 

   

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Academic and Stakeholders    

UAM is a leading public research university committed to academic excellence, innovation, and social responsibility, with a strong focus on interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability, inclusion, and social transformation. Tangente is a cooperative group that promotes sustainability and ecosocial transformation through the social economy and inter-cooperation.

  

University of Glasgow

Academic and non-academic     

Combination of Glasgow Goes Green Week (at UofG), CfSS, ARC, and others.     

Makerere University Kampala- Uganda   

Academic, Government and NGO’s, Donors,

 

Government owned with a population of about 80,000with all disciplines. 

Academic and administrative coordinator of the CSC

  • Sandra Rothenberger
  • Email

Academic and administrative coordinator of the CSC

  • Jean-François Desoutter
  • Email

Co-coordinator for CSC at UAM

  • Leyla Angélica Sandoval Hamón
  • Email

Director of University Institute of Education Science, UAM

  • Alfonso García de la Vega
  • Email

Director of Games and Gaming Lab (UofGGamesLab), University of Glasgow

Role: Director of Environmental Education Lab - Department of Educational Studies / Academic Coordinator for CSC at NKUA