The Provost's Sustainability Challenge
The Provost's Sustainability Challenge, delivered by the Trinity Entrepreneurship Hub in collaboration with Zeeus, brings Trinity College Dublin students from different disciplines together for one day to tackle real-world social and environmental challenges, develop creative ideas and turn them into practical solutions.
Whether you already have an idea, have a team, or are simply curious about solving sustainability challenges, there's a place for you.
No previous entrepreneurship experience is required.
🌍 Choose Your Challenge
You'll work on one of four challenge areas inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
🌱 People & Wellbeing
Health, wellbeing, equality, inclusion and education (SDGs 3, 4, 5, 10).
🏙️ Sustainable Communities
Cities, mobility, housing and inclusive communities (SDG 11).
♻️ Responsible Consumption
Food, waste, consumption and the circular economy (SDGs 2, 12).
🌿 Climate & Nature
Climate action, biodiversity, water and ecosystems (SDGs 6, 13, 14, 15).
Each challenge area gives you the freedom to identify a specific problem and develop a solution that matters to you.
🤝 Have an Idea? Have a Team? Neither? All Welcome!
You can join the Challenge in four different ways:
Have an idea and a team? Bring your team and continue developing your idea during the Challenge.
Have an idea but no team? Share your idea, meet other participants and invite them to join you.
Have a team but no idea? Explore the challenge areas together, develop a new idea or join forces with someone who already has one.
Have neither an idea nor a team? No problem! Meet other students, discover interesting ideas and form a team during the event.
We'll begin the day with a facilitated Idea & Team Mingle, giving everyone an opportunity to meet, share ideas and find collaborators.
Teams must have a minimum of three participants. We recommend teams of 3–5 people to encourage meaningful collaboration.
You don't need to organise anything beforehand. Just come ready to connect, contribute and create!
💡 What Happens on the Day?
Once teams are formed, you'll work through a practical, facilitated innovation process:
Discover — Explore your challenge, research the issue and understand the people affected.
Define — Identify a specific sustainability problem worth solving.
Ideate — Generate and explore possible solutions.
Develop — Select your strongest idea and consider how it could work in practice.
Prototype — Create a simple representation of your proposed solution.
Refine — Consider its potential impact, feasibility and key assumptions.
Pitch — Present your solution to a judging panel in a three-minute pitch.
This is a hands-on challenge, so expect to spend most of the day collaborating, experimenting and developing ideas rather than sitting through presentations.
🛠️ What Will You Create?
By the end of the day, your team will have:
A clearly defined sustainability problem.
A proposed solution and its expected impact.
A simple prototype.
Key assumptions and potential next steps.
A three-minute final pitch.
Your prototype doesn't need to be a finished product. It could be a mock-up, storyboard, service concept, physical model, campaign, process or another creative way of demonstrating your idea.
Teams will also complete a short online idea submission to support the judging process.
🏆 Awards & Recognition
All participants will receive a digital participation badge (certificate).
Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three teams:
🥇 Winner — €500
🥈 Runner-Up — €300
🥉 Third Place — €200
⚖️ How Will Ideas Be Judged?
Ideas will be evaluated by a judging panel using the following criteria:
Potential for Impact — Meaningful social or environmental benefits - 25%
Challenge Alignment — How effectively the solution addresses the chosen sustainability challenge - 20%
Innovative Approach — Originality and creativity - 20%
Feasibility — Practicality and potential for implementation - 20%
Human-Centred Design — Understanding the people and communities affected - 15%
🚀 What Happens Afterwards?
Promising teams may have opportunities to continue developing their ideas through the Trinity Entrepreneurship Hub, including access to mentoring, entrepreneurial support and relevant innovation infrastructure.
🎓 Who Can Join?
The Challenge is exclusively open to currently enrolled Trinity College Dublin (TCD) students, across all disciplines and levels of study.
Whether you study engineering, humanities, business, science, health, arts or something completely different, your perspective can bring something valuable to a team.
No idea required. No team required. No previous entrepreneurship experience necessary.
📍 Event Details
Date: Saturday, 24 October 2026
Time: 10:00–16:00
Location: Main Space 102, 1st Floor, Trinity Entrepreneurship Hub, Trinity Business School
Address: 182 Pearse Street, Dublin 2, D02 F6N2
Places are limited. Registration is required, and participation is subject to confirmation.