City Challenges are a programme of events providing students with the opportunity to engage with charities and social enterprises.
Students can support worthwhile organisations whilst developing skills to improve employability. By taking part in a City Challenge, students gain experience in group working, problem solving, public speaking and presentation, innovative thinking, and community engagement.
The MoSAIC (The Museum of Science, the Arts & Interdisciplinary Collaboration)
is a Bristol based business taking STEAM learning to the next level and reducing the disadvantage gap using cross-curricular education. They show young people and educators how creative the STEM subjects really are through online and downloadable teaching resources and accessibly priced in-person creative school workshops aimed at secondary school aged students. The MoSAIC came and hosted a session with us at the Careers Service on Tyndall Avenue. Students worked together and came up with ideas to support the marketing of services and diversification of revenue streams.
Working in groups, the students had a couple of hours to come up with solutions to the following Challenges:
- Making services as accessible as possible: looking at diversification of income streams to enable subsidised sessions and events for disadvantaged young people.
- How to make the organisation’s marketing strategy more proactive.
The groups took turns to present their research and ideas, and Gareth, founder of The MoSAIC gave them positive and constructive feedback.
“Reading the description for The MoSAIC City Challenges from the Career Services site, I knew immediately that I would want to take on this challenge. The fact that it was STEM related made it even more interesting for me as I have always only ever been a Humanities focused student. Being part of this initiative not only helped boost my confidence where group work is concerned, but I also acquired critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and presentation skills. It was great to be part of a solutions-driven initiative, especially the fact that it was a real-life scenario. I would really recommend that students take part in this programme as it has a two-pronged approach – you walk away with invaluable skills as a student, and you also become part of a team that helps provide solutions to our modern-day challenges facing the SME sector.” – Keneilwe, International Relations student.
Find out more and get involved
Organisations
Find more information about City Challenges, Bristol PLUS, and other ways to get involved on the Careers Service website.
Students
Find out more about City Challenges and other ways we can help you stand out to employers on the Careers Service website. Make sure you are signed up to the YourCareer newsletter to hear about upcoming events.