In June, students from Sweden, Africa and Asia collaborated on enhancing sustainability and resilience in rural energy and mobility systems – some of today’s most urgent sustainable development challenges. The challenge was carefully crafted to be relevant across diverse contexts, accounting for key differences between African and Swedish settings. By bringing together academia, civil society and industry, the goal was to create an interdisciplinary environment where students could tackle real-world problems innovative hands-on learning.

What is challenge-driven education?

A challenge-driven education model immerses students in interdisciplinary, collaborative environments where they tackle real-world problems that are co-developed with external partners, such as businesses, governments, or NGOs, under academic mentorship. This approach helps students apply theoretical knowledge to practical issues, fostering creativity, critical thinking and broader perspectives by working with diverse stakeholders.

“We were thrilled to be part of this effort,” said Nelson Ekane, SEI Research Fellow. “The Maggan Hub initiative represents an important shift towards more action-oriented, challenge-driven education that includes multi-stakeholder perspectives, directly aligning with SEI’s approach to advance sustainable development globally.”

SEI’s role in the Maggan Hub

The Maggan Hub’s mission aligns closely with SEI’s commitment to driving sustainable and equitable development. SEI, alongside partners such as Scania and Skogforsk, supported KTH throughout the project cycle co-designing the challenge, providing mentorship to student groups and serving on the steering committee.

“Participating in the Maggan Hub gave us insights into how other different actors engage with complex societal challenges. It was also inspiring to see how the students blended the perspectives of the partners with their own, drawing from their diverse academic and cultural backgrounds,” said Ngongang Wandji Danube Kirt, SEI Research Fellow.

The pilot project fostered productive engagement between students and partners, with  continuous exchanges of ideas and approaches. SEI experts contributed insights from their research in environmental management, equitable transport decarbonization, sustainable business practices and community-based approaches. These contributions were complemented by fresh perspectives and innovative research ideas from the students and other partner organizations, creating a rich environment for problem solving.

After a month of intensive work, including design thinking sessions, hackathons, data collection and solution design, the students presented their findings to the mentors, receiving positive feedback for their creativity and depth of analysis. The students’ highlighted the value of experimenting with diverse learning methods while addressing broader societal challenges.

Following the pilot’s success, SEI and KTH are exploring ways to scale up the Maggan Hub. Presentations at KTH partnership events have sparked interest in continuing the collaboration, with plans underway to explore the project’s reach and impact. SEI will remain a key partner, helping to guide future phases of the Maggan Hub as part of the KTH-led reference group. Together, they aim to harness its potential to create a lasting and widespread impact on both education methods and sustainability challenges.