June 1st was the day. After months of preparations, the national SDG-Challenge 2023 took place at the Soestdijk Palace. The SDG-Challenge is one of the projects of the youth agency Soapbox, with the mission to mobilize students and organizations to create positive impact together. During the challenge, 15 teams collaborated with leading organizations on a sustainability case. They presented their solution last Thursday to the expert jury. The Netherlands Court of Audit was chosen as the winner by the jury, and SuperFlora won the Audience Award.

The Winners

Out of all the participants, only one could be the best. Each team had only 1.5 minutes to convince the jury and the audience. Additionally, the teams wrote an extensive business plan, further explaining the solution. The jury followed a set of criteria in their judging. A realistic and well-founded solution was key: what impact does the solution have in the short and long term, how innovative is the idea, is it scalable and technically feasible?

The jury’s top choice turned out to be the idea for the NCA’s challenge. Students from RSM presented a solution called the SDG Mapper, consisting of three components: a method, instruments and communication advice. By implementing this solution, the NCA can enhance  transparency, increase public awareness of climate policies, and foster employee engagement. With the SDG Mapper and its accompanying communication channels, the NCA can set a good example, inspire others in the public sector, and contribute to achieving the SDGs.

 

The Jury

In addition, the audience had the opportunity to vote, and they chose the SuperFlora Team, composed of students from Maastricht University. They presented a system for employee engagement as a solution to promote the integration of sustainability into SuperFlora’s daily operations. The system introduces a Sustainability Committee, various workshops, and an in-company challenge in different stages, aiming to inspire for sustainable impact internally, among sister companies, and ultimately across the entire flower industry.

After the event, all participating students and organizations gathered to toast to the success of the challenge, the winners, and most importantly, to celebrate their joint contribution to achieving the SDGs.

SDG-Challenge

With the SDG-Challenge, Soapbox mobilizes students and organizations to collaborate on the SDGs, enabling organizations to green their operations and inspiring students to pursue careers in sustainability. Through the SDG-Challenge, Soapbox also makes its own impact on various SDGs, such as helping organizations make an impact (SDG 9 – Innovation and sustainable infrastructure), providing lifelong learning opportunities (SDG 4 – Education), and building an ecosystem that connects stakeholders (SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals).

Teams of this edition

 

All participants and jury members