RCE Grand Rapids-2018

rce_proj_title_2013
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1. Project Title: 
Wicked Problems of Sustainability: Wege Prize (update)
2. Thematic area/s addressed by the project
Select your options: 
Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)
Higher Education (HE)
3. Project partner contact information : 
Organization: 
Kendall College of Art and Design: FSU
Role: 
Authorship and transmission
Main Contact: 
Gayle DeBruyn
Name: 
same
Affiliation: 
same
Email: 
GayleDebruyn@ferris.edu
4. Project type
Select the relevant type for your project: 
Engaging with transformative learning and research for SD
5. Project description
Provide a short description of the project including strategies, regional challenges, aims and specific project activities.: 

The Wege Prize, "Wicked Problems of Sustainability" is an annual competition for graduate and undergraduate students in colleges and universities around the world.  Students are challenged to bring solutions to some "wicked" problem using technology and innovative practices.  Prize money is awarded to winning team proposals.

6. Project status
On Going
Description: 
The first place winner in 2017 was a team from University of Michigan and Brown University. Their project focused on working with food and beverage processing plants to convert their organic waste products into insect-based protein that can be used in animal feeds and as an agricultural product. This team is currently piloting the project with a microbrewery in Austin, TX.

Second place went to a team from Autonomous University of Nicaragua and Kendall College of Art and Design in the US. This group developed a solution focusing on helping small coffee farmers operating in Nicaragua's Miraflor Natural Reserve to halt the negative environmental impact of their production while also diverting the waste byproducts of cascara to the tea market, providing the farmers with an additional revenue stream.
8. Tagging
Region: 
Global
Tags (choose up to 5): 
Agriculture
Waste