The annual World of 7 Billion student video contest challenges students to think critically about the world’s most pressing issues. Each year, the contest topics spotlight current global issue areas. The aim of the contest is to encourage students to consider the topics within a greater context. The three requirements are: the video must be less than 60 seconds, students must make the connection to human population growth, and lastly they must develop a sustainable solution to their topic of choice.
Below are a few examples of real-world solutions to this year’s contest challenges you can share with your students.
Advancing Women and Girls
The Malala Fund – Malala Yousafzai started the Malala Fund after she was targeted by the Taliban for speaking out for girl’s education in Pakistan. The organization is focused on helping girls go to school and raise their voices for the right to education. The benefits of educating girls don’t stop with them, the benefits reach into their communities, their future children, and ultimately it helps to reduce poverty and increase economic growth.
Feeding 10 Billion
Feedback’s The Gleaning Network – Feedback is an organization that campaigns to end food waste at every level of the food system. Their campaign, The Gleaning Network, coordinates volunteers, farmers and food redistribution charities to redirect food that would otherwise be wasted from farms to people in need across the UK and Europe.
Preventing Pollution
Sustainable Conservation’s Cow Power Program – This initiative aims to harness the methane produced from cow manure and other farm animals to power business and homes using a device called a methane digester. This process cuts down on the amount of methane, the number one greenhouse gas from the agricultural industry, reaching the atmosphere and simultaneously provides energy.
Help Students Think Through Their Sustainable Solution
Developing a sustainable solution can be the most challenging part of participating in the contest. With this in mind we have developed a Sustainable Solution Organizer which focuses exclusively on the solution portion of the video and is meant to provide students guidance when organizing their thoughts. Using this organizer, your students will have the chance to cover each of the steps demanded of a sustainable solution and end up with a video that could change the world.
We can’t wait to see what your students come up with! For complete contest details please visit https://www.worldof7billion.org/student-video-contest/.
