The Go Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Action Student Challenge empowers York University students and their peers around the world to take action towards the achievement of SDGs with a global lens.
Go Global SDGs in Action Student Challenge 2023-2024
Create local-global impact! Develop your intellectual communication, digital fluency, and project
management skills plus earn up to $8000 to study, research, and work in impacted communities.
Through facilitated discussions, workshops, and immersive abroad opportunities, York students develop global competencies, leadership, digital fluency, and project management skills necessary to take action on SDGs. By participating in the program, students learn and experience the opportunities and challenges in leading community action for social change. This program is a follow-up to the International Indigenous Student Exchange Virtual Pilot.
Objectives
- Increase global learning opportunities for York students especially Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, and low-income, or students living with disabilities, to non-traditional destination countries (Asia, Latin America and Africa)
- Develop students’ intercultural communication, leadership, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, digital fluency and project management skills.
- Expand students’ knowledge of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and provide them an opportunity to contribute to the SDGs from any discipline of study.
- Increase awareness of SDGs by creating platform for knowledge sharing between York community and partner countries.
Program Design
EXPLORE: Students will participate in workshops to build SDG knowledge and global competencies including concepts in international development, social change, grassroots movements, and community engagement. Every year the project will focus on 4 SDGs plus SDG17 which is relevant for each individual SDG.
ENGAGE: Student groups will plan and execute SDG community action advised by faculty mentors and supported by staff from project ideation, pitch and implementation.
EXEMPLIFY: At a Knowledge Fair, Students will showcase projects with the wider York community, Canadian peers and international partners. Students (student groups) share their learnings and experiences from the program.
EXPERIENCE: YorkU students go abroad to study, research, intern or visit communities and partners they’ve impacted through their SDG action projects.
Funded by the Government of Canada’s Outbound Student Mobility Pilot Program Global Skills Opportunity (GSO).