The University of Pretoria (UP) is one of five universities that will be participating in the first instalment of what will become an annual international student competition sponsored by renewable energy company Siemens Gamesa in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.  

Students at all levels of study and from any discipline are invited to develop and submit proposals for climate solutions, working in multidisciplinary teams of four to five. The teams will be mentored by Siemens Gamesa experts, alumni of the UP Master’s in Development Practice (MDP@UP) programme and any academic staff members who wish to offer advice and input.

There will be three rounds of evaluation – two external rounds and one internal to UP – to select the best proposal. The winning team will be announced at the International Conference on Sustainable Development, which will be held in New York at the end of September this year. In addition, Siemens Gamesa will sponsor the winning team with 10 000 Euro for the further development and implementation of their proposal.

UP is running a campaign to make students aware of this opportunity as they will need to start working on their proposals early in the new year. For staff, there are a variety of ways to become involved in this exciting competition. Lecturers can act as contact points for disseminating information to students, volunteer to serve on the internal judging panel or mentor a multidisciplinary team.

We urge any interested academic members of staff to register by completing this Google form. Kindly refer to the attached material for more information.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr Yolande Steenkamp ([email protected]) or Dr Nokuthula Vilakazi ([email protected]).