From 5 to 8 May 2026, students from across the EUTOPIA alliance came together at the University of Gothenburg for the EUTOPIA Innovation Challenges for Students. Working in international and interdisciplinary teams, they tackled real-world sustainability challenges presented by local organisations and public authorities.
After four days of workshops, field visits, brainstorming and teamwork, we spoke with four participants to hear what they learned, what surprised them and what they will take away from the experience.
What motivated you to join the Innovation Challenge?
Diarra: For me, it was the opportunity to see real action happening. We spend so much time in school learning about theories, and I wanted to see how change can actually be brought into the world.
Ben: I’m writing my bachelor’s thesis on sustainable mobility initiatives in Montreal, and Gothenburg is kind of a hub for that subject. I wanted to get some real, on-the-ground experience. And that’s exactly what happened.
João: I’m an engineer and I love solving problems. Having the opportunity to travel abroad, work in a different country and meet a lot of different people sounded like a really good plan.
Carina: I believe international collaboration can foster real solutions to problems. This project connected very well with my background and research, so I wanted to experience that directly.
What’s the most striking thing you’ve learned about sustainability this week?
Diarra: Because I study environmental science, most of the time we focus on environmental sustainability. But now we’re working with projects where we’re looking into economic sustainability and social sustainability. So it’s really the multi-dimensional aspect of the word sustainability.
João: I agree. What struck me most was the problems we were faced with. There were some problems that I never thought about in relation to sustainability. It was interesting to see how important it can be to approach them from an engineering perspective.
Carina: Our specific case focused on inequalities between backgrounds and also gender. I feel like this type of sustainability is not something that comes to mind when you think about it. So it’s interesting to look into different sides of the coin.
Ben: My case has also been focusing on the intersectionality of different factors that have caused issues but can also help solve issues. It’s been great to take everything into account and look at things through multiple lenses instead of just one.
How has working with students from different countries shaped your project?
João: I think it’s amazing. We are very different. We have completely different backgrounds and histories. It’s fascinating to learn about those, share ours and grow together through the challenge.
Ben: The diversity is absolutely fantastic. Having engineers, computer scientists and people from the humanities, including those looking at the social aspects, has allowed us to take a much more holistic approach to solving these things. That’s what we would need to do in the real world.
Carina: Our case study targeted schools in Sweden, and everyone comes from another country. In my team, we have different experiences with school and how it is organised. So we come up with different ideas, and it’s very interesting to see what everybody went through and how these experiences shape our thinking.
Diarra: But then we come back to a final goal: this is our purpose, this is what we want to convey. It’s beautiful how all of these perspectives align in order to reach one specific goal.
What’s been the biggest hurdle?
João: I’m a mechanical engineer, so I’m used to another kind of problem. It was amazing to shift completely and apply what I know to these kinds of problems, and then try to be useful to the team.
Diarra: At the end of the day, we try to put ourselves in the hands of decision-makers and see what’s actually sustainable, not just from our personal perspectives, but also from theirs. If we give them this idea, will they actually be able to apply it?
Ben: One of the biggest parts of the solution process that surprised me was the amount of empathy involved. You have to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and approach the problem from a completely different standpoint.
Carina: There are different age groups involved in our case, so we have to think: would we, as adolescents, like this type of solution? The kids might find it very fun. We have to find something that works well for everybody.
What concrete skill or idea are you taking away from the experience?
Diarra: Listening. Listening is the skill that I think I’m getting trained on. I have so much to say, but other people have so much to say. Sometimes I have to be humble and let the floor go to other ideas, which are sometimes revolutionary, even for me.
Ben: For me, it’s trying to throw yourself into the most revolutionary, out-of-the-box idea, even if it’s completely crazy and sounds ridiculous. It gets the brain thinking in a more creative way. Maybe that’s not the final solution, but you can walk it back and it helps you restructure how you view things.
Carina: For me, it’s the pace at which we have to develop our ideas. We only had about two days to come up with a solution for a real problem. The pressure is on!
João: For me, it’s the interaction between people. I’m used to interacting with engineers, who have a completely different approach. Here, we have people from completely different backgrounds. That interaction is fascinating.
What does this week show you about the value of an alliance like EUTOPIA?
Ben: Probably the most inspiring thing has been the diversity of opinion. These are really complex solutions that absolutely cannot be taken at face value. Having this culmination of many lived experiences, many fields of study and different backgrounds is the beauty of this programme.
Carina: We have access to so many universities and backgrounds. What we can come up with together is different from what we can develop while working in our own universities. I think it’s really nice that we get to do that.
João: I think it enables us to grow as a whole. Our environments at our universities are very different from country to country, and different people have different approaches to different problems. Learning with each other will only prepare us more for the future problems we are going to face.
Diarra: We live in a globalised world. We need these experiences to understand just how many interconnections there are in the world. I think it’s very valuable to create spaces where we can learn from each other.
