Internship

Student Challenge 'Design the Ultimate Urban Greenhouse'

The explosion in urban growth presents opportunities as well as challenges to our environment and our food systems. Many cities start looking for ways to feed themselves sustainably. To support this development and contribute to a sustainable future, Wageningen University & Research is organizing a Student Challenge to Design the Ultimate Urban Greenhouse. This Challenge will be organised every other year.

In this Challenge, multidisciplinary student teams are challenged to bring professional food production (back) into an urban neighbourhood, connecting it with local resource flows and e.g. local (smart) energy systems. Their design will be based on an existing location in one of the Netherlands’ major cities, and teams will receive all relevant specifications. Their design encourages citizens to actively engage with the sustainable production and consumption of healthy food. Their business plan shows which values are created and proves that their design is worth investing in. The Challenge integrates social, economic, environmental and technical aspects. The Challenge is open to student teams from all around the world, and teams may comprise students from different universities and universities of applied sciences.

Timeline Challenge

  • Final registration date: 30 November 2017.
  • Thematical webinars in January 2018.
  • Teams design their Urban Greenhouse between February and August 2018.
  • The final event will take place on 28 August 2018.

Assignment

We are looking for an energetic and enthusiastic communications student, to (further) develop and implement a communication strategy and plan.
To support WUR’s objective to showcase our impact and contribution to society, a communication strategy and plan need to be put in place. An initial communication plan has been developed and needs to be adjusted and requires a further elaboration and operationalisation, to fit the present situation.
Lessons learned from the communication in this Greenhouse Challenge need to be translated into a higher level multi-year communication strategy for upcoming Challenges.
Besides development and implementation of the communication plan (in cooperation with the Green Challenges Team), information needs to be gathered and shared with the participating Challenge teams.

Activities

  • Elaborate initial communication plan
  • Implement communication plan
  • Communicate with Challenge teams about information needs
  • Gather and share information with teams
  • Develop multi-year communication strategy for Challenges
  • Other tasks related to the Challenge

Period

4–6 months, start in January 2018.

We are looking for a student who

  • has a BSc degree Communications & Life Sciences;
  • is creative, energetic and solution-focussed;
  • has a strong interest in innovation and/or urban agriculture;
  • has a proven record in creating videos and producing content for social media;
  • has strong written and oral communication skills.

We offer

  • An exciting setting in which student teams from all around the world compete to Design the Ultimate Urban Greenhouse and as such contribute to a better world.
  • A stimulating learning environment, where you will learn about urban agriculture, innovation, student challenges, working in a project-team, and of course: communication.
  • A team that is very enthusiastic and eager to make this Challenge to a success in terms of an unforgettable experience for the participating students, in creating innovative solutions and in strengthening WUR’s reputation.