Map the System Competition 2018 for Students & Educators (Global Finals at Oxford, Uk)

Deadline: January 8, 2018

Entries are open for the Map the System Competition 2018. Map the System is a competition that asks both students and educators to think differently about social and environmental change. They are asking you to select a social or environmental issue and to explore, probe and research all the connecting elements and factors around it. They want you to present this issue back to us in a way that people can understand, share, and learn from.

Map the System is run by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, in partnership with educational institutions across the world who each run the competition at their institution. The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship works to accelerate ‘entrepreneuring’ activity that seeks to transform unjust and unsatisfactory systems and practices.

Benefits

By participating in Map the System,

You’ll have the opportunity to make connections with socially-conscious students, faculty, and practitioners from within your school and the wider community.
You’ll get to compete with other teams from across your institution, and you could be selected to attend the Global Final in Oxford, UK, where you’ll compete with teams from all over the world to win cash prizes.

But more importantly,

You’ll get to work in a team to research a real-world problem, learn about organisations working the field, and create a visual map of the system that others can learn from in the future.

Prizes

Following the Global Final on 1-3 June 2018, the top three entries of Map the System will receive cash prizes and tickets to the Emerge Conference 2018 (including a subsidy for travel costs):

1^st Prize – £3,000 + tickets to the Emerge Conference 2018, including a travel allowance
2^nd Prize – £2,000 + tickets to the Emerge Conference 2018, including a travel allowance
3^rd Prize – £1,000 + tickets to the Emerge Conference 2018, including a travel allowance

The Global Final will take place on 1-3 June 2018 at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK.

Eligibility

This competition is for you if any of the following apply:

You have a passion for or lived experience of a particular social/environmental challenge and would like to investigate this problem fully to understand what sort of intervention in the system would be most effective
You are looking to have a high-impact career and want to understand where your unique skill set can be best applied to effect lasting change
You want to get an internship related to your chosen issue and want to understand what organisations are out there
You have an existing solution, product or business idea in mind, but would like to research the issue area thoroughly to understand what solutions have already been tried, and are willing to pivot your idea based on your findings

Map the System is less well suited to those whose business idea or start-up enterprise is further advanced to the point where pivoting their model is not feasible at this stage.

Criteria

You can apply for Map the System as an individual or in a team of up to five people.
At least one member of the team must be a current student at any of our partner institutions (enrolled on a course of 6 months or longer), OR a recent graduate of one of those institutions (i.e. having completed studies within 12 months of the date you register for the competition).
Students may be at undergraduate, diploma, postgraduate or doctoral level.
Your institution may have additional eligibility criteria so please get in touch with the Map the System contact at your institution in the first instance, and they will be able to advise you.

Application

Map the System asks you to demonstrate a deep understanding of a pressing social or environmental issue by mapping out the landscape of current solutions and identifying missing opportunities for change.

Check the eligibility criteria and key dates to make sure you are able to participate.
Form a team (or go it alone). You can enter the competition as an individual or team of up to five people.
Choose your topic. See the guidance page for advice on how to select an appropriate topic.
Register online. Tell them a bit about your topic, what you plan to research and who’s on your team. Registration is open from 18 September 2017 until 8 January 2018. The earlier you register, the longer you’ll have to work on your submission!
After registration, you have until 26 March to submit your final materials via an online form. By that date you need to submit three documents: