The Maggan Hub: For the development of Challenge-Driven Education for a more just and sustainable society
The Maggan Hub is a pilot project to develop KTH's capacity to conduct Challenge-Driven Education (CDE) for a green and equitable future. It has been named after KTH Professor Emeritus and former Vice President Margareta Norell Bergendahl, who also serves as a mentor and advisor in the project.
Project Description
The Maggan Hub is project-managed through KTH Global Development Hub (GDH), whose activities include innovative initiatives to strengthen KTH's educational environment so that students, to a greater extent than today, can participate in challenge-driven projects for a more just and sustainable society.
The hub's purpose is to create a dynamic environment where students and teachers, together with organizations within and outside KTH, gather—those participating in KTH's courses on challenge-driven innovation and others interested in tackling complex societal challenges. Through workshops, hackathons, and other forms of spontaneous and creative meetings, the goal is to make the Maggan Hub a catalyst for generating solutions to both small and large societal challenges.
The recipient, Margareta Norell Bergendahl, acts as a mentor and advisor to the project. The work will be included in KTH’s Future Education, and methodological support will be received in that way. Additionally, the effort will be developed in collaboration with KTH's external and international partners.
Pilot Project in 2024
KTH GDH is tasked with launching a pilot operation for the Maggan Hub during the spring semester of 2024. This work includes both testing the concept and identifying how the hub can be operated in the long term. The work will be student-led, including former students/teaching assistants in collaboration with senior project management.
The focus of the work will be around the month of June, so accepted students will work full-time on a given challenge together with external actors from selected industries and research institutes.
The two main goals of the pilot project are to:
- Provide students with an opportunity to be part of a challenge-driven innovation process and thus gain experience and understanding of how various societal actors perceive and work with challenges.
- Additionally, with the pilot, we aim to explore how to establish an initiative at KTH, led by students in collaboration with teachers and external actors, with the aim of developing solutions for a more just and sustainable society, and how this process can unfold both technically and socially.
For this, a group of approximately ten students will be recruited. Selection will be based on responses to the survey that has been sent out. Recruitment may come from both graduates and non-graduates. Experience in participating in projects with "Design thinking" or other innovation methodologies is considered advantageous.
We acknowledge the significance of crafting challenges that hold relevance across diverse contexts. Given GDH's focus on activities and partnerships in Africa, our aim is to formulate a challenge that resonates in both African and Swedish contexts, thereby fostering cross-cultural understanding and collaboration.
Recruited students will receive compensation equivalent to student grants during this month.