The York Region District School Board (YRDSB) and Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship (BII+E) teamed up in November 2016 deliver Climate Hack2Action, a two-day deep learning experience that will engage 96 students to generate new approaches to one of the biggest challenges our society is facing—climate change.
BII+E is committed to supporting partners like the YRDSB to explore methods for integrating innovation + entrepreneurship learning within the formal education system.
The Challenge
“What challenges do people face in making low carbon choices? How might we empower people to instinctively reduce their carbon footprint?”
How It Works: The Student Experience
During the two-day hackathon, students formed multidisciplinary teams and collaborate with policy experts, community leaders, and entrepreneurs to accelerate impactful and scalable solutions. The hackathon culminated with a judged Pitch Competition, and the most successful pitches will have the opportunity to pitch at Quest.
This event was a Climate Hack-to-Action, a hackathon we hosted in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) in April 2016. MOECC is also supporting the YRDSB Climate Hack2Action with climate change content and expertise.
Integrated Professional Development
In addition to supporting student learning, this event also integrated professional development sessions with YRDSB teachers, librarians and administration. This training was delivered by the I‐Think Initiative, a not‐for‐profit project housed at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. I-Think believes that in order to prepare our students for the future, one of the most important roles that educators can play is to teach students the skills and mindsets necessary to solve wicked problems.
In November 2016, workshop participants explored design thinking tools for innovation that the students are experiencing in the hackathon. Building on this learning, workshops explored how Integrative Thinking can be a way to explore the world and solve problems around us.