The SDG Innovation Challenge is a 48-72 hours long ideation marathon tailored towards concerned, committed young people. It can take place in any given context – local, trans-local as well as virtual.

When signing up for the program, candidates either describe specific challenges they are facing in their respective community and hope to tackle further, or they outline area(s) of interest and/or concern that they would want to contribute to as part of the event. Participants converge around areas of common interest and, in interdisciplinary teams, work together to unpack the issue, understand user needs, and design tangible ideas to address the issue at the community level. Facilitators and mentors support their ideation journey with thematic impulses, advice, ideation materials, references, and more. At the end of the ideathon, teams pitch their solution ideas and/or present a lean prototype, which will be evaluated by an independent jury based on criteria such as content, viability, innovativeness, disruptiveness, interdisciplinarity, and collaboration potential.
The best-evaluated ideas of any given SDG Innovation Challenge shall receive continued (incubation) support and mentoring to help transform their solution idea into a viable, impact-oriented project. Plus, the most promising ideas will have the opportunity to showcase their solutions as part of the African Youth SDG Summit, Africa’s biggest Sustainable Development Youth congregation