Solve for Tomorrow in Türkiye, held for the second time this year in collaboration between Samsung Electronics Türkiye and Habitat Association, is now recruiting participants for the next round in 2023. Applications for participation will be accepted by January 15, 2023 on https://www.samsung.com/tr/solve-for-tomorrow/
Trainings for both students and teachers
Solve for Tomorrow has grown its significance by incorporating trainings for not just students, but for teachers as well. Over the course of the program, teachers will engage in training sessions designed for them. Those sessions will be held in November and December in Istanbul and Ankara. Teachers will also take online courses on Design Thinking for 4 days. For teachers from outside Ankara, transportation and accommodation expenses will be covered. Also, upon the completion of the program, teachers will be provided with certificates. Teachers who wish to participate in the program can apply at https://www.samsung.com/tr/solve-for-tomorrow/.
By the end of December, around two thousand students will receive Design Thinking training. The training for students will be provided onsite in 11 different provinces of Türkiye by mentor volunteers. Moreover, special training will also be organized for students from Darüşşafaka in the Gazhane Museum in Istanbul (for one and a half centuries, Darüşşafaka Society has been providing underprivileged children with a better education).
After the trainings are finished on January 15th, up until the awards ceremony on April 28th, participant students will receive various support in training, idea development, and mentorship.
Trainings in compliance with the global standards
The program constitutes three stages – Preliminary, Semi-final, and Final. The students and volunteer teachers that participate in the program through “Design Thinking Workshops” will receive training that consists of a five-stage process: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test, and is designed to stimulate creative yet practical ideas. Each stage is based on “Design Thinking in Integrated Design Education,” a study by Stanford University. In addition, Samsung Türkiye and Habitat Association together offer semifinalists with mentorship.
The first round of the competition selects 30 projects and offers Design Thinking trainings from January 15th to 30th, 2023. In the semi-final, the 10 selected projects will build prototypes between March 15th and April 28th, 2023. The final round will take place from March 25th to April 28th, and the winners will be announced at an award ceremony on April 25th. The teams that make it to the second round can participate in the Design Thinking Workshop, and the teams that get to the final will receive mentorship for their project developments.
Design thinking – a method for innovative solutions
Solve for Tomorrow is designed to enhance students’ STEM competencies. The program encourages young students to find out solutions to the problems in their own communities, using STEM knowledge and tools. Design Thinking is a highly scientific yet holistic method, taking analytical and rational approach to often complex and ambiguous problems.
Commitment to solve the most urgent problems the world faces today
Launched in 2010, Solve for Tomorrow is providing environments for creating innovations to local problems around the globe. As a STEM-oriented program, it encourages young students to find answers to the problems in their local communities from STEM knowledge and make them into tangible and viable solutions. Throughout the course, the participants get to learn deeply about the environment that they live in, while acquiring both technical skills and soft skills collaborating with each other. The areas of contest include climate change (reducing carbon emissions), sustainability (recycling), renewable energy, and smart city.
