Student teams tackle the waste problem in Brasília

What is EGALITARIAN and which students participate?

In EGALITARIAN, students collaborate on finding solutions for a more sustainable world, with a focus on designing digital applications for waste collectors in Brasília. Participating students often come from technical backgrounds as they can build the technical solutions. However, students from other study programmes can also participate. For example, we have already had students from Urban & Regional Planning, Public Administration and International Business programmes.

A great strength of the project is the diversity of participants from partner institutions abroad. A taste of what it’s like when you start working and everyone has diverse backgrounds and experience.

How did the project come about?

The project is a follow-up to a previous Erasmus+ project, the het EPIC-project, in which we participated. The University of Aalborg from Denmark and the University of Brasília from Brazil had already been collaborating successfully. Following their positive experience of working with Saxion students on that earlier project, they invited us to join forces once again. The fourth project partner is the Portuguese University of Minho. As an existing partner of ours in several areas, it was a logical step for them to collaborate with us again.  

What do students learn from the project?

Participating will show you that your knowledge and efforts are valuable in other parts of the world, too. As a diverse team of students from different countries and programmes, you can make a real difference to the lives of waste pickers in Brasília. Small-scale and very concrete.

For example, a Saxion student designed a durable scale specifically suited to the waste sorting operations of the waste management cooperative we work with. This design is currently being built and will be put into use at a later date. This clearly shows that, as a student here, you can have an impact there too.

In what ways can students get involved?

All students start with a project week so you can get to know your teammates and the project better. In fact, you will be working together online for the rest of the semester, so it is important to get a good start. Partners take turns hosting the project week. The last project week took place at our campus in Enschede. All the students and their accompanying lecturers spent a week with us. There were more than 40 participants.

What are the reactions of students who have participated?

So far, all the students who have participated have found it a wonderful experience. The project week is, of course, an intensive week when you work on your project plan for the rest of the semester and get to know a group of new students from Portugal, Brazil and Denmark. In the evenings, there is plenty of time for all kinds of fun activities, which are mostly organised by the students themselves.

Students also say that this experience has helped them find internships or placements for their graduation assignments. An international experience in a multidisciplinary team. I also hear reports about students making new friends in countries they had never visited before, says Natascha van Hattum-Janssen.

Can you tell us something about the project week at Saxion?

This semester, it was our turn to organise the project week, says Marleen van Grunsven. In collaboration with Sustainable Saxion, we hosted a week centred on building relationships. Students were able to collaborate with each other on their sub-project.

We also organised workshops, for example on intercultural cooperation and ethics. There was also an excursion to Twence, a waste-to-energy plant (waste processor) in Hengelo. This was interesting because it highlighted the international differences in waste management.

Fun fact: the project week coincided with the intro week at Saxion. Enschede was even more lively than usual and the participants joined in activities with new students. The programme turned out really well, partly down to the organisational skills of the students who had previously taken part in the project.

What was your best moment of the project week?

It was great to hear from students about their experiences of the week. For many students, coming here meant more than just crossing a geographical border: it also meant stepping out of their comfort zone and into a place that felt unfamiliar, surrounded by people with different customs and ways of communicating. Students look back on this experience very positively: differences could feel quite big at times but they were far from unbridgeable, and it was enriching to be able to learn from each other in this way.

I hadn’t expected the project to have such a significant impact on students’ personal development, shares Marleen van Grunsven. What really stood out to me was how people could still learn so much from each other despite big cultural differences, simply by giving each other space, staying open-minded and not jumping to conclusions - all with a sense of humour and flexibility.

Will there be a follow-up to EGALITARIAN?

The project partners are definitely considering a follow-up. We know each other well, which makes collaboration feel easy and efficient. Participants certainly regard the EGALITARIAN project as a valuable experience. We would love to connect with more Saxion students and lecturers interested in participating in the project.

Project Code:	KA220-HED-FF91A961
Action Type:	Key Action 2: Partnerships for Cooperation
Agency: DK01 - Danish Agency for Higher Education