interview

‘ECIU University offered a new perspective to challenges’

The University of Trento is no stranger to challenges. It first introduced them in 2015, long before becoming part of ECIU University. However, the alliance was a game-changer by offering more social challenges focused on making impact.

Text: Anastasiya Bukhtiarova
Photos: University of Trento

‘The initial idea around challenges was to connect companies and organizations with students who could help find innovative solutions to their problems’, Roberto Napoli, then-assistant to the rector and the current challenge coordinator at the University of Trento, says. ‘It proved to be a very interesting experience for both companies and learners’,

Still, challenges back then were quite different from the way they are now, Roberto points out. Joining ECIU University was a game-changer. ‘While it inspired an even greater commitment to challenge-based learning at the University of Trento, more importantly, it changed the university’s approach to challenges – or rather offered a new perspective.’

‘The main difference was the aim of the challenge itself’, Roberto explains. Originally, the University of Trento's challenges mostly prioritized the market perspective, he shares, with innovation seen as more of a solution to the challenge providers’ issues rather than a goal in its own right.

ECIU University offered so called ‘social challenges’. They set a bigger goal of creating a global impact – and making the world a better, more sustainable place. They also redefined the students’ role in the challenges, embedding their voices deeper into the process, and offering them more opportunities and space to identify the issue, discuss it, and come up with a solution. ‘It was a very interesting adjustment to the challenge structure because it emphasized the early stages of the challenge and allowed students to contribute more.’

The University of Trento took this opportunity to exchange knowledge by working closely with other member institutions, both hosting and attending other universities’ challenges.