SDG Summer School 2024 - Prototype Open Source solutions related to Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games

Learn, by doing, how to address sustainability and open source medical issues in an international framework in central Paris from June 24th to July 19th

Registrations open until April 30th

About

We are convinced that it is essential to educate and train students on ecological, medical and social transitions as early as possible so that they can become conscious, positive and enlightened actors, able to take up the local and global challenges they will have to face. This program will focus on health issues and their link to the environment

Initiated seven years ago, the SDG Summer School offers students a framework for engagement and training in sustainability issues through the prototyping of solutions to concrete problems. For several years, this training program has been carried out in partnership with the University of Geneva

This immersion program supported by the Institute of Challenges, co-founded by the Learning Planet Institute and the Université Paris Cité, will run from June 24th to July 19th. It is exclusively based on project-based learning and will be taught mainly in English. It is intended for students of legal age enrolled in a higher education institution in France or abroad. The diversity of profiles is an asset, so participants coming from natural sciences, humanities, medicine, computer science, design, gaming or arts are encouraged to apply.

Key information :

A 4-weeks format taking place in several innovation spaces around the globe (Geneva, Paris and Shenzhen were host cities in 2022)
Teams selected for their complementary skills (medicine, biology, law, business, IT, design etc) and their abilities to jointly develop out-of-the-box solutions.
Challenges mentored by practitioners in International Organisations and leading global health researchers in participating academic institutions.
Each team coached by a PhD student who has relevant research experience and a clear interest in tackling the team’s specific challenge.
A chance to learn hands-on about open science tools and methodologies (open data, open source hardware and software, citizen science)..
An emphasis on rapid prototyping of solutions and an evaluation through weekly pitching sessions and careful project documentation.

2023 Challenges

Here are some of last year’s challenges:

Paris Challenges

Developing an open-source dialysate manufacturing machine for resource-limited settings
Reimagining open-source diagnostic tools for point-of-care testing and surveillance in resource-limited settings.
Developing innovative interventions to improve health education about noncommunicable diseases
Developing interventions and devices for non invasive stress monitoring and mitigation
Design for disability: an accessible world to empower all kinds of bodies
Use AI to make education more accessible to kids with learning troubles or handicap
Modeling, simulation & citizen science participation for disaster management & monitoring of biodiversity

Geneva Challenges

Monitoring access and usage of insecticide treated nets to prevent malaria
Digital self-administered TB treatment patient support and monitoring
Using AI to provide vulnerable individuals online with appropriate content on HIV/AIDS
Antimicrobial exposure in early life
Introducing health in the curricula of sport in Africa
Using blockchain for menstrual health solutions

This year's challenges will co-constructed during hackathons until March 2024

Program

The program of this school will take place mainly during the month of July with some preparation workshops at the end of June. All activities will take place on our campus in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and online for the first workshops in June

Below is a description of the activities:

Week 1 : Hackathon discovery of tools and deep understanding of challenges

During three intense days, participants are invited to discover one-another and test the tools that can be used during the school to answer the challenges presented by the mentors. Participants will discover the advantages of gamification, open-source electronic prototyping tools (arduino, movuino) and other tools of a fab lab. The end of week 1 consists in discovering more specifically the problems related to health and the environment brought by partners and to think of a project which allows to bring a solution to them. Once the project has been validated by the mentors, the participants will strat implementation of these ideas using the tools discovered during the hackathon.

Week 2 & 3 : Project design and implementation

Week 2 & 3 consist in using design thinking and rapid prototyping methologies to bring ideas into concrete solutions . The days are punctuated by technical workshops (fablab, code, digital fabrication, robotics, laboratory, etc.) and training in research methodology, business model, reflexivity, documentation, etc... Participants have access to the various resources available on the LPI campus (fablab, student lab, workspaces, etc...). Some sessions will be held jointly with our online partners in the form of courses/workshops, informal exchanges and peer evaluation.

Week 4 : Documentation & Presentation of results

During the last days of the summer school, the focus is on documentation and the final exhibition which will be an event open to the public during which the projects will be presented.

In a few words

30+ students group in Paris - 100+ Students worldwide
Interdisciplinarity
Interculturality
Learning by doing, thourgh research
Collective intelligence

How are you going to work ?

This summer school is based on a few major principles:

Interdisciplinarity: by mixing profiles, the group adopts an interdisciplinary vision, a vision that allows to apprehend the complexity of the stakes related to the SDGs, and that is constituted by a wider continuum of knowledge and experiences, linked to the variety of disciplines that compose the group. Not only can the disciplines be complementary, but also the ways of working associated with each discipline constitute a background that feeds this interdisciplinarity and strengthens the response that the group can propose.

Collective intelligence: stimulating the production of new ideas by a group. The idea is that what the group creates, under certain favorable conditions, will be greater than what the sum of the skills of each individual creates. Collective intelligence comes from a quality of synergy, where people manage to do together what is impossible to do alone. Very often, something new and unexpected emerges.

The project approach: The project approach aims to provide a framework and a way of working (scientific methodology, ikigai, design thinking,...). This approach creates a dynamic between participants who must organize themselves and take advantage of the collective emulation.

Inscription

You are a student registered in a higher education institution or in a gap year and you want to take advantage of this time to learn how to use the tools of research and prototyping to provide a solution to the challenges of ecological and social transition? Sign up for the SDG Summer School for an innovative educational and social experience. Fill out the form below to apply. The number of places and the diversity of profiles will condition the number of people selected.

Fees

350 € for UPCité Students
2000 € for externals

Partial or total exemption of fees may be provided to some candidates. Places are subject to availability. Please feel free to inquire.

For all your questions: sdgschool@learningplanetinstitute.org

Click here to apply

Opening of the inscriptions : December 2023
Registration closes: April 2024
School starts: June 24, 2024
School ends: July 19, 2024