On Thursday the 17th of June, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Challenge final took place. One of the participants was Fashion and Textile Technologies student Anna Babilua. She and her team won the challenge, and she hopes to spread the message of sustainability in Ukraine, her home country. ‘The first time I learnt about this topic was when I started my studies at Saxion.’
What is the SDG Challenge?
The SDG Challenge is a Soapbox initiative which organises impactful campaigns for young people together with companies and educational institutions. During this educational programme, students from ten Dutch higher education institutions work together – in interdisciplinary groups of ten to fifteen students and employees – on assignments from ten Dutch companies (including Swapfiets, Zeeman and the Dutch Red Cross). The assignments are all related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).The following Saxion students are also taking part in the challenge:
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Anne Veerle Brunnekreef (the Dutch Red Cross)
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Lennard Bishop (Albemarle)
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Yohannes Desta (Swapfiets)
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Lukas Kloppert (Activitree)
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Maryna Patskova (SCAB)
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Fefke Bruinenberg (Zeeman)
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Sophie Hotovska (HMC)
Hi, Anna, so how was it to participate in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) challenge?
'It was amazing! The challenge finished and my team won the Audience award with the solution we proposed to the brand we cooperated with. Unfortunately, I was not present during the Finals as only two people from the group had a chance to present our solution because of Covid-19. Overall, it was an unforgettable experience: new network, new knowledge which opened some new doors for me in my own future.'
Congratulations! And what was your project about?
‘My group is working on an assignment for Makers Unite: they hire immigrants who are new to the Netherlands to make textiles. They want to measure their progress in terms of their SDG. To help them measure their goals, we're working on a matrix to be presented at the final. The challenge kicked off in April, and we had a sprint day in which we worked on the assignment on Teams the whole day. We've met a few more times on Teams since that day. Our group works online, but someone I know from another group does have in-person meetings.’
Do you enjoy working with the other students?
‘I'm a first-year student, and this is all pretty new to me. It's all a bit exhilarating, because I don't have a lot of experience with these types of challenges yet. I just listen carefully to the others and I'm happy we can do this together.’
It wasn't until I started my studies in Fashion and Textile Technologies in September that I learned anything about sustainability. That's why I signed up for this challenge. Sustainable development isn’t really a thing in Ukraine.’
Why are the SDG so important?
‘Mainly because the United Nations is involved, and they want to achieve these goals by 2030. But also because Saxion is very focused on sustainability and because of my studies in Fashion and Textile Technologies. I want to know more about sustainable development. Personally, I'm interested in SDG12: sustainable consumption. I want to spread these ideas as much as I can.’
Is that also one of your reasons for participating in this challenge?
‘It wasn't until I started my studies in Fashion and Textile Technologies in September that I learned anything about sustainability. That's why I signed up for this challenge. Sustainable development isn’t really a thing in Ukraine.’ I want to learn more about this topic. That's why I pay close attention to the opinions of students who have more experience in this area. I hope I can share this knowledge with my family soon, so that we can really make a difference. I wish everyone to have an opportunity to take part in a such event as it boosts you as a professional and gives you chance to feel how it works in new companies and actually how is it like to cooperate with existing brands.’
