Applications have opened for the Berkeley Civic Innovation Challenge, a new initiative that aims to address key issues in the city of Berkeley by leveraging the expertise and creativity of UC Berkeley students. The competition focuses on five civic challenges: disaster preparedness, information about supportive housing programs, reducing landfill waste, improving accessibility of city websites, and supporting small and underrepresented businesses.
The program is a collaboration between UC Berkeley and the city of Berkeley. Student teams will be selected later this semester to participate in a seven-day contest early next year. The event will conclude with a pitch session at Berkeley SkyDeck where teams present their prototypes and service models to local leaders.
The initiative is led by the UC Berkeley Big Ideas Contest, an accelerator program that has supported over 550 social ventures across 50 countries during its 20-year history. Multiple winning teams from the new challenge will receive up to $4,000 each and gain fast-track entry into the final round of the Big Ideas competition.
Phillip Denny, director of the Big Ideas Contest, commented on the significance of this partnership: “It’s forging a deeper partnership between the city of Berkeley and the UC Berkeley campus as students tackle real-world challenges identified by civic leaders right here in our own backyard.”
City staff proposed more than 20 possible challenges for consideration. A group of 100 students then voted on which issues they considered most urgent and engaging.
The project is also supported by organizations such as the UC Office of the President, Berkeley Startup Cluster, and Blum Center for Developing Economies. Previous projects from Big Ideas have addressed disaster preparedness technology, hunger reduction, food waste management, and college transfer success.
Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii has personal experience with Big Ideas; as an undergraduate participant she developed a student-led program to help community college students with transfers and leadership opportunities. She said: “As Berkeley residents, this is a chance for them to feel more connected to the community they live in and empowered to make a difference. The Challenge also allows students to apply what they’re learning in the classroom to develop tangible, real-world solutions to city challenges that Berkeley may not always have the capacity to address.”
Chancellor Rich Lyons expressed hope that this initiative would lead to ongoing cooperation between campus and city: “This is a wonderful example of how our support for, and leadership in, innovation and entrepreneurship programs can advance the greater good. I’m also thrilled to see how our programs are constantly adapting to the evolving interests and aspirations of our students.”
The application deadline is December 1. More information can be found on the Berkeley Civic Innovation Challenge website or Big Ideas Contest website.
