Challenge Nova Scotia enters sixth year, online
Ivany Campus students take part in Challenge Nova Scotia’s 2019 event.
Photo c/o Susa Eldridge/NSCC
This article originally appeared in NSCC’s NOW Newsletter.
On Nov. 20, NSCC students will tackle a social issue facing the province, as problem-solving competition Challenge Nova Scotia enters its sixth year.
Every year, NSCC president Don Bureaux and Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil present a new challenge, influenced by the Ivany Report. Students have 12 hours to propose an innovative solution and create a 90-second video explaining it, in teams of four to six. Past challenges have included access to healthcare and attracting new immigrants to the province.
This year, Challenge Nova Scotia returns to its online roots. “The very first Challenge NS competition was held virtually in 2015,” says Bureaux. “We’ve adjusted how we’re delivering Challenge NS this year to ensure we can safely provide the high-quality event participants expect.
Sheri Williams, manager of entrepreneurship at NSCC, says she expects over 400 students to participate provincewide. Neil Cody, Ivany Campus coordinator for the challenge, expects up to 160 students from the campus to take part.
Cody says the challenge “allows students to apply what they’re learning and take it to the next level.” He says the challenge builds critical-thinking, problem-solving and innovation skills in students – skills the college says the province needs. “Challenge NS draws on students’ entrepreneurial mindset and encourages them to use the type of skills and thinking our province needs more of,” says Bureaux. “Through their participation, students demonstrate their ability and readiness to build a vibrant future for Nova Scotia.”
Williams says the challenge gives students the unique opportunity to have their voices heard and to shape the province's future.
Cash prizes will be awarded to the teams with the top three solutions, and students may have the opportunity to have their video seen by the premier and other elected decision-makers says Cody.
Students can register for Challenge Nova Scotia via NSCC Connect until Nov. 13.