Challenge Question
How can we make unbiased information and education around advanced recycling more accessible to all communities?
Reimagine Waste Challenge
The Reimagine Waste Work-Based Learning challenge is an opportunity for teachers to integrate an authentic, real-world problem in their classroom: How can we make unbiased information and education around advanced recycling more accessible to all communities?
Co-designed by the Sonoma County Office of Education in partnership with San Francisco-based waste-innovators Brightmark, this 12-week challenge is ready to be embedded into classrooms from multiple content areas using the design thinking lessons included below.
While this challenge is primarily geared toward high school classrooms, students from all grade levels are encouraged to submit solutions. Brightmark will award $1,000 to the student/team with the winning proposal.
To get started, check out the Roll Call Phase!
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Let's Reimagine Waste!
Get familiar with the challenge. Check out the details and learn more about how the challenge works, what kind of solutions we are looking for, and what some first steps might be.
Get familiar with the challenge. Check out the details and learn more about how the challenge works, what kind of solutions we are looking for, and what some first steps might be.
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Week 1 | Forging a Design Team
Provide opportunities for students to practice building empathy by connecting & developing support structures.
Provide opportunities for students to practice building empathy by connecting & developing support structures.
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Week 2 | NTK's & Empathy Interviews
Use the resources and artifacts provided to build a deeper understanding of the challenge (problem) and develop need-to-knows.
Use the resources and artifacts provided to build a deeper understanding of the challenge (problem) and develop need-to-knows.
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Week 3 & 4 | Foundational Knowledge
Provide opportunities for students to practice building empathy and communication skills by connecting to community members, businesses, industry partners & the challenge.
Provide opportunities for students to practice building empathy and communication skills by connecting to community members, businesses, industry partners & the challenge.
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Week 5 | Synthesizing Your Learnings
As you transition out of the Empathy Phase, how do you capture what you have learned, synthesize it, and begin to identify “users” and “needs”?
As you transition out of the Empathy Phase, how do you capture what you have learned, synthesize it, and begin to identify “users” and “needs”?
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Week 6 | Avoid Solutions, Discover Better Problems
Try to reframe your challenge using the information you have gathered and grouped. What surprising insights have you gained? Don’t jump to solutions, figure our more interesting problems to solve.
Try to reframe your challenge using the information you have gathered and grouped. What surprising insights have you gained? Don’t jump to solutions, figure our more interesting problems to solve.
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Week 7 | Divergent Ideas
Once you have identified the right problem or challenge in the Define Phase, generate a wide range of creative and diverse ideas without judgment—ideate.
Once you have identified the right problem or challenge in the Define Phase, generate a wide range of creative and diverse ideas without judgment—ideate.
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Week 8 | Convergent Ideas
Evaluate and select the most promising ideas you’ve generated and consolidate, refine, and iterate them into a set of solutions that best address the identified problem or challenge.
Evaluate and select the most promising ideas you’ve generated and consolidate, refine, and iterate them into a set of solutions that best address the identified problem or challenge.
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WHO ARE WE?
With science and optimism—and a little bit of imagination—we take on the planet's most pressing environmental challenges by deploying circular innovations that show real results.
Our technology focuses on two waste streams: plastics and organics. Through our anaerobic digestion and proprietary plastics renewal technologies, we unlock the value in waste by converting it into new products.
