Yerevan /Mediamax/. After a highly competitive process involving student-initiated projects from across UWC schools and colleges and the African Leadership Academy, three project teams have been selected for the final stage.

IDeA Foundation noted that the projects are Smokeless Kitchens from UWC East Africa, Precious Plastic from UWC Pearson College and Young Voices from UWC Atlantic College.

The teams prepare to present their projects during the inaugural Aurora Forum in Armenia on October 18.

Young Aurora encourages, showcases and supports student-driven projects addressing concrete humanitarian issues and offering solutions through innovative and sustainable approaches.

This year, fourteen projects were submitted for the Young Aurora prize by student teams from across twelve UWC schools and colleges and the African Leadership Academy. They address a wide range of issues, from migration to menstrual health and from civic engagement among the young to community support for the elderly. UWC Changshu China’s project HOPE was named the winner last year.

Smokeless Kitchens project

Propelled forward by the aim of reducing and eliminating the damaging effects of smoke experienced in the kitchens of indigenous communities of the Chagga and Maasai tribes in Moshi, Kilimanjaro, the Smokeless Kitchens team have set out a plan to sustainably source low cost, high quality smokeless stoves that are operated using environmentally friendly fuel.

The impact potential of this project has been greatly praised by the panel for addressing the root causes of a critical humanitarian issue.

Precious Plastic project

Inspired by a Marine Science class in which the team took part in a beach cleanup, the Precious Plastic team came face to face with the critical need for proper recycling practices, while simultaneously feeling disheartened by the lack of action taking place in the community to tackle this issue. The result was a plan to build a small plastic recycling factory on campus.

In the long term, the factory will be maintained by the students from the Precious Plastic CAS while the materials it produces will be sold to generate profit and further fund the project.

Young Voices project 

The Young Voices team found that the lack of civic engagement among young people in Wales is giving rise to a host of societal issues, including deepening inequality, social exclusion and a culture of blame.

They set about designing a peer-led civic education program for 13 to 18-year-olds with the aim of passing on all that they learnt at UWC to help other young people become engaged and compassionate citizens of tomorrow, while also closing the gap they soon discovered between the civic awareness of teenagers from different socioeconomic backgrounds.