What is the Green Tech Entrepreneurship Challenge Hub?
Smion is the lead organization of the project “Green Tech Entrepreneurship Challenge Hub for work-based learning,” which aims to build the capacity of school staff and promote entrepreneurship and green tech innovations among teaching staff and students in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
The project has been running since December 2023, and a learning platform called “Challenge Hub” has been developed, which is based on solving challenges. The purpose is to organize innovation competitions through the platform, connect teaching staff with industry partners, and provide students with educational content on entrepreneurship and green technology.
About the GreenTech competition
From September 16th to 24th, students worked on tasks through the Challenge Hub platform in the form of video lessons and knowledge quizzes, developing solutions to challenges posed by two companies, SIKA BH and BN-Step. On September 25, they presented their solutions at International Burch University. The event was opened by the university’s rector, Prof. Dr. Mersid Poturak, followed by Smions Miro Hegedić and Dario Zorić, who also welcomed the attendees and gave insight on the project and competition. After the welcome speeches, high school students presented their ideas in short pitches.
About the teams that participated
Sixty students from three schools, organized into 15 teams, participated in the competition. A jury composed of members from the organizers and companies selected the best teams.
Winners of Challenge 1 (company SIKA BH):
- 1st Prize: Team 9 (Technical High School of Graphic Design and Multimedia Technology, Ilidža)
- 2nd Prize: Team 4 (High school of Economics, Sarajevo)
- 3rd prize: Team 1 (High school of Economics, Sarajevo)
Winners of Challenge 2 (company BN-Step):
- 1st Prize: Team 3 (High school of Economics, Sarajevo)
- 2nd Prize: Team 15 (High School of Transport and Communications, Sarajevo)
- 3rd prize: Team 2 (High school of Economics, Sarajevo)
How did students feel about the competition?
Students were introduced to the Challenge Hub platform and noted how easy and useful it was to use. One of the student’s comment about the platform:
“I think the platform is very well designed; everything is clearly explained, and we learned something new through the competition”.
Another shared:
“I found the platform very interesting and easy to use. I think its advantage is the accessibility and simplicity.”
Value and goals of the project
The first competition within the GTECH project has taken place, allowing high school students to showcase their innovative and entrepreneurial skills as part of the challenge-based learning process from companies.
One of the goals of this project is to enable mobile training for school staff in Croatia and Slovenia to professionally develop their skills in challenge-based learning, entrepreneurship, and building industry partnerships.
The project will also propose policy changes and an action plan based on a GAP analysis to promote practice-based education in BiH. Some of the project’s outcomes are listed below:
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As part of the project, six organizations from Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with rich experience and expertise in working with teaching staff, are providing their knowledge and support to those involved in the project. These include: FabLab BH, High school of Economics, Sarajevo, International Burch University (IBU), Electromechanical School Varaždin, GEA College, and Smion.