Innovators. Entrepreneurs. Global Citizens.

Over the past five years, 141 binational teams, over 252 faculty and more than 3,040 students from the US, Jordan and Iraq have competed in the Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge since September 2018. Their goal: Remix their community with sustainable business by designing the best sustainable concept to a need within a specific industry. Cohorts have focused on the hospitality industry, the food industry, the arts and entertainment industry and the technology industry.

Teams investigated the impact of problems in their local communities, collaborated globally through virtual exchange, and developed real-life solutions through creation of a sustainable business concept.  

Global Solutions is implemented by IREX and is supported by the J. Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative (JCSVEI). JCSVEI is a U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs program administered by the Aspen Institute.

 

Spring 2023 Cohort VIII Finalists    

During the Spring 2023 Cohort VIII, eleven binational teams, 23 faculty, and 210 students from the US, Jordan and Iraq competed in the Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge. Their goal: create the best business concept to meet a need in their community related to four of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Clean Water & Sanitation, Affordable & Clean Energy, Climate Action, and Life on Land.     

All teams investigated the impact of problems in their local communities collaborated globally and developed real-life solutions through the creation of sustainable business concepts.
 
The top five teams pitched their concept at the Virtual Global Business Expo. 

 

First Place: Life in Every Drop

Lone Star College (Texas, US)  

Ammon Applied University College (Amman, Jordan)

Solution: A washing machine water purifier, Renuvacycle, that helps hotels in Jordan and the United States who may be dealing with water scarcity to reuse wastewater from washing machines by collecting, filtering, and storing the used water for reuse.

 

 

Second Place:   Global Defenders   

University of the Cumberlands (Kentucky, US) 

Soran University (Soran, Iraq)

Solution: A filter for bottles that purifies water so everyone has access to clean water at all times at an affordable price.

 

 

Third Place: Grey Solar 

The City University of New York (New York, US)   

Al-Balqa Applied University (Amman, Jordan)

Solution: The Greywater Treatment System that will support Jordanian and American citizens who live in rural areas to have access to sustainable and clean water.

 

 

Contact

Contact Information Email: globalsolutions@irex.org