Law

Changing the world is a team sport — 45 teams, to be exact. Nineteen Western students were among the 45 teams to participate virtually in the annual How to Change the World challenge — a global, experiential learning program that guides students through an intensive week of developing solutions for real-world sustainability problems. Four faculties represented Western (15 students from Engineering, one from Music, one from Law and two from Brescia University College) during the university’s reading week Feb. 15-19. Participants were placed in teams of like-minded students from around the world to tackle challenges based on their interests and skills. Students competed in one of six challenges, ranging from clean water and sanitation issues in Biratnagar, Nepal, to infrastructure concerns in Inuvik, Canada. Third-year mechanical engineering student Hannah Waters and her team addressed the lack of access to resources when installing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the city of Calgary. Waters’ team received a Most Creative Solution award for developing the S.U.N. Initiative — a three-phase sustainability program focused on education and onboarding, solar PV system implementation, and community progression. “I loved the How to Change the World program,” said Waters. “It empowers students to develop solutions that our society urgently needs, throughout the program and beyond.” Fourth-year music education student Amber Proulx quickly discovered that her experiences at the Don Wright Faculty of Music were extremely applicable to this challenge – her ability to work in a team, to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of a problem, and to engage in critical reflection. “Because I was coming from a non-STEM field, it was easy to feel out of place or that I didn’t have something to contribute,” Proulx said. “But it became apparent very quickly that this was not the case.” Her team received a Most Implementable Award for its work on food security in Northern Manitoba. “It was definitely a challenge having such a short period of time to complete our presentation, and it was intense: we were working right up until the minute it was submitted,” said Proulx, who is completing her term as president of the Faculty of Music Students’ Council this month. “I was very proud to represent the Music faculty, and to be able to apply what I learned through my time at Western, including as a student leader, to address a real world issue.” Team Awards (Western) Amber Proulx, Music – Most Implementable Project: Food Security in Northern Manitoba: Weecheetwin, Working Together Challenge 1 – Cities & Communities in Northern Manitoba, Canada Amelia Jiang, Engineering – Most Implementable Project: RIPPLE | Potable Water for Urban Residents of Batac City, Philippines Challenge 2: Cities & Communities in Batac City, Philippines Chloe Robinson, Brescia – Best Overall Project: Improved Modular Learning for Batac City Rural Barangays Challenge 2: Cities & Communities in Batac City, Philippines Deanna Hersey, Engineering (MESc) – Most Implementable Project: Greywater Recycling for Villiers Island Challenge 3: Water in Villiers Island, Toronto, Canada Anastasia Maslak, Engineering (MESc) – Most Creative Project: The Open Communication Initiative in Biratnagar, Nepal Challenge 4: Water in Biratnagar, Nepal Sebastian Myles and Keith Cook, Engineering – Most Implementable Project: Water Treatment in Biratnagar Challenge 4: Water in Biratnagar, Nepal Cindy Zhang, Engineering – Most Implementable Project: Food Insecurity in Calgary Challenge 5: Industry & Infrastructure in Calgary, Canada Hannah Waters, Engineering – Most Creative Project: S.U.N. Initiative Challenge 5: Industry & Infrastructure in Calgary, Canada Blake Bunting, Engineering – Best Overall Project: Project Inuvik Artisans Online Challenge 6: Industry & Infrastructure in Inuvik, Canada Luka Petrusevski, Law – Most Creative Project: The Northern Connection Coalition Challenge 6: Industry & Infrastructure in Inuvik, Canada