ECIU Challenges
Make a real impact
Solve ECIU University challenges
For the upcoming spring semester, we invite students to join multidisciplinary and international teams at the ECIU University and solve challenges, provided by business and societal partners across Europe. You will have an opportunity to tackle local, national and global problems with a challenge-based approach.
Make a real impact.
Our challenges are the ones that communities and organisations face at this very moment. Working with them will give you “first-hand” experience and possibility to contribute to real societal change.Contribute to more sustainable communities.
Our challenges evolve around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal no. 11 “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. By collaborating at local, national and international levels, you help to solve these complex challenges and make society futureproof.
Follow your own learning path.
You will gain unique experiences and develop professional and personal skills, like problem-solving and team-work competences, the opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary and international team and learn inter-cultural competences. The ECIU University connects 12 universities from 12 different European countries.
Challenge yourself by a new way of learning.
In the challenge-based approach, you will work together with teachers, government, experts, business, companies and societal organisations. In addition to this, you may chooseExplore challenges provided by LiU
Mussels as an environmental mitigation tool
The challenge: The East Region Aquaculture Centre (ERAC) runs a small mussel farm in the St. Anna archipelago, harvesting approximately 80 000 – 100 000kg mussels bi-annually while reducing eutrophic levels in the near vicinity of the farm. The mussels have been shown to be effective. However, the harvested biomass is currently a high cost for ERAC. The mussels themselves are a by-product of the environmental mitigation project yet we know this by-product is rich in high-quality protein, marine fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. The challenge is to find one (or several) areas where these mussels can be effectively used to help make this environmental mitigation economically feasible for the farmer.
Increase knowledge, action and reuse of fashion through tech innovation
The challenge: VARIÉ need help to find a way to interact with and inform customers. We want to increase knowledge and inspire sustainable fashion and consumption. And we need help to locally support selling clothes to relove (second hand) in a physical store and online.
Visual Agenda
The challenge: The challenge is to create a visual representation for an innovative vision of how nudging could accelerate change and to make people more aware of there environmental impact on earth, based on the global goals.
Apptek - safe electricity installations
The challenge: As a part of development of our new products we need to find more areas to implement the system and as part of the safety and environmental demands increases we want our product to not only be the best, but also make the new standards in the future.
Promoting Linköping's sustainable transformation
The challenge: How do we best make the people of Linköping aware of the new services and infrastructure the municipality is going to introduce shortly?
How do we create a common will of the majority of the people to participate in the transformation towards a sustainable transportation system which will ultimately lead to a healthier, more attractive, friendly and green city?
Finess Hygiene
The challenge: The products we have today with that type of raw material are mainly wipes and protective sheets. We would like to get ideas about what type of usage that could be for our new material in the home and healthcare sectors.
Agtech 2030
The challenge: Today, the vast majority of people in our country live in cities and because of this, they have lost their connection to the countryside and agriculture. In the worst case, they base their knowledge of farming upon the fairytales about Emil in Lönneberga and reality shows such as “Farmen” and have only visited a farm at occasional events such as a “cow release” or a stop at a farm shop.
The knowledge of modern agriculture is also scarce and therefore many people cannot understand how food is produced and how different aspects are connected and dependent upon each other within the agrifood system. We would like to change this. The challenge is therefore how to increase the social knowledge of agriculture and food production from a sustainable, technical production perspective. In short – increase people’s knowledge about their food.
Region Östergötland
The challenge: Region Östergötland’s most extensive task is to offer adequate healthcare to the county’s residents. Specialist care is offered at Linköping University Hospital, Vrinnevi Hospital in Norrköping and Motala Hospital. Region Östergötlands measures of greenhouse gas emissions show that single-use plastics within health care is our biggest source. Single-use products have become a ubiquitous part of daily life and a part of our throwaway culture.
Cooperation beetween LiU and the trade and industry in Norrköping
The challenge: Create a system or a working model that facilitates the contacts between trade and industry and students, that is not tied to a person but sustainable regardless who has the role. The outcome should be increased knowledge about Norrköpings students among the trade and industry in Norrköping, reinforced match-making between the two parts in order to increase competence and create growth within the trade and industry.
Civil rights defenders
The challenge: Many human rights defenders and organisations rely heavily on communicating the human rights issues they are facing to put pressure on duty bearers, provide alternative information and to advocate support. They do this through for example independent media, social media channels, submitting reports and statements to international bodies and organs, through independent organisations and their platforms and during peaceful protests.
When human rights defenders monitor and document human rights abuses and represent victims of human rights violations, they are often threatened and attacked to stay silent. Many human rights defenders that Civil Rights Defenders partner with are also operating in hidden networks, or underground. Yet, they continue their work despite the risks of harassment, smear campaigns, arrest and detention and in the worst cases, disappearances and murder.
Read more here!
AI technology venture
The challenge: There are many interactions which could be optimised. But where can we achieve the biggest improvement and set new standards? It is your task to find use cases which can greatly benefit from using our technology. The ideal application has great business value, a positive impact on individuals and is in line with our ethical standards. Your turn! What will you come up with?
Read more here!
Desquare - digital signage
The challenge: Is it possible to create a connected sign that is adequate energy-efficient to operate autonomously, i.e. entirely without a physical connection to a power or network connection? Or are there any other solution for our digital signage?
Read more here!
Riksbyggen
The challenge: Since the start, Riksbyggen has had the goal of being able to offer housing to the general public. Unfortunately, the trend shows that prices for new homes have risen over the past decade and continue to grow. In turn, this has led to that people cannot afford to buy a new home. What is the root cause of expensive new productions, and how can we include everyone when we continue creating room for life in the future?
Read more here!
Sofidel Sweden AB
The challenge: Today, quantities of products are packaged in plastic packaging, products that in many cases, could be replaced with paper or other durable materials. Sofidel has taken the step of completely switching to paper packaging, so-called primary packaging, but is now striving to find a solution that concerns their secondary packaging, i.e. the actual wrapping of the pallets before transport. Today, the wrapping takes place with several layers of plastic. Sofidel wants to reduce sharply - or exclude entirely - its use of plastic regarding its secondary packaging. Are there other materials we can - entirely or partially - replace the plastic with? Or are there other solutions for packaging and distributing products on pallets?
Read more here!
More information
How does it work
- Explore the ECIU University challenges provided by various European cities, regions or business stakeholders.
- Register to the challenge platform to receive more information about participation.
- Choose the challenge that intrigues you and you get paired up with others that also thrive for the project.
- Engage and investigate the challenge and propose solutions.
- Micro-modules will help you gain additional knowledge or skills that are needed to solve the challenge.
- Gain a certain amount of academic credits that will record your new skills gained during challenge-based learning process and chosen micro-modules (how credits are recognised differs in each institution).
Requirements for student to join the ECIU University challenges
- Studies in one of the 12 ECIU University member institutions.
- Enrolment in a master’s degree programme or final year of a bachelor’s degree programme.
- Completed 120 ECTS of higher education studies at undergraduate level.
- English language proficiency: B2 (Self-assessment, CEFR of languages).
- OPTIONAL REQUIREMENT: Experience with entrepreneurial work.