Ten Southampton students have just returned from Delhi, India, where they participated in the first International Social Innovation Challenge looking at the theme of ‘Empowering Women through Safer Communities’.
Southampton students were joined by peers from OP Jindal Global University in Delhi and Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan to create collaborative social ventures designed to improve the lives and livelihoods of women in urban India.
The challenge was a unique opportunity for our students to develop their skills as social leaders through hands on experiential learning and collaborative problem solving.
Speaking about his experiences, Bradley Tombleson (first year BSc. Population and Geography) said:
‘The ISIC-15 has easily been the best experience of my university career so far – both in terms of personal skills development and sheer enjoyment.”
Dr Pathik Pathak, founding director of the Social Impact Lab and a programme director for the Challenge said,
“[The programme is] a great platform for our students to develop and showcase their ability to meet complex challenges such as female empowerment by thinking globally but acting locally. There was fierce demand to win a place on the Challenge and our students were fantastic ambassadors for the University.”
The Social Impact Lab is a university wide programme which supports students to become social leaders. More information can be found on the University website.