Finding Solutions for Real-Life Problems Collaboratively: G4 Project

2023-11-21T11:19:10+01:00November 21st, 2023|

This month, our Class of 2024 carried out their Group 4 projects. The Group 4 project is a highlight of the IB Diploma Programme because of four key features:
It involves science, which means developing skills in reviewing the literature, asking good questions, forming hypotheses, considering ethics, making observations, modeling, simulating and/or experimenting, evaluating and presenting. Collaboration is essential, from understanding the requirements to writing up. There is a clear opportunity to harness different elements of the IB Learner Profile: Communicators, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced and Reflective. It is uniquely ‘zero stakes’. By simply turning up and participating for the required 10 hours, students complete this essential part of the IB Diploma.
With founding teacher Chris Hamper taking a backseat after supporting this initiative for decades, Academic Programme Leader and Physics teacher Emma had the opportunity to rethink our approach, especially as the “Group 4 project” becomes the “Collaborative Sciences project” next year:
How could we move towards all students getting involved (perhaps even those with Environmental Systems and Societies as their only ‘Group 4’)?
What might work in November (a date that coincides with work experience for DP1-aged students across Norway, making it easier to have our DP2 students off-timetable)?
And how could we involve a wider pool of teachers, without requiring non-scientists to supervise risky experiments?
The answer to all of these questions came through a meeting with a local Research & Development organisation called Akvahub, which has always been a friend of the College. Akvahub exists to help aquaculture and other agriculture businesses within our region become more sustainable. The Group 4 Project asks students to collaborate in search of solutions. And, of course, we are a Nordic college with students from 80 nationalities. In short: the perfect partnership. Akvahub’s role was to generate a context brief for us: a ‘state of the nation’ report on the challenges faced by farmers. They put together six real-world challenges with entry-level information about opportunities and constraints. Our students provided the brainpower, working together with diverse and creative perspectives to propose responses to the challenge they have been allocated.

The challenges were:

– Maintaining excellent water quality and sustainable waste management

– Energy, cost and effectiveness of sludge collection

– Operating closed-containment aquaculture systems

– Disease outbreaks

– Selecting suitable sites for seaweed farming

– Scaling up seaweed cultivation

After a launch event, students worked in interdisciplinary teams on allocated tasks and had access to Akvahub representatives by email for any real-world questions. And, with our students never ceasing to amaze, we had our presentations just one week later – with an audience including a judging panel from Akvahub and Bue Salmon and students and teachers from across the college (not just the scientists!).

Trygve Hallberg at the sea tank of RCN, with Jelena Belamaric, former Teacher of Biology and students

Trygve Hallberg at the sea tank of RCN, with Jelena Belamaric, former Teacher of Biology and students

Our judges were hugely impressed by the quality of the work on show. Trygve Halberg, the Daily Leader of Akvahub shared his thoughts about the G4 project:

We really enjoyed the collaboration and are looking forward to continuing collaborating in the future. Solving current and future issues of food security, sustainability, energy and responsible and effective land area management is important for the whole world, and we believe that cross-border collaboration on business development, science and regulation is essential to solve these challenges.

The areas we chose were issues related to Norwegian aquaculture, but were also largely applicable to the whole world as the goals and problems are largely the same. The great thing about science is that it is universal, and thus a great tool for collaboration.

We hope that the future engaged citizens, business developers, researchers, politicians, and authorities around the world can benefit from learning and trying to solve our challenges here in Norway, and that we, in turn, can learn from what is happening in the rest of the world now and in the future. We believe projects like this could be a seed for future collaborations between countries, which is uplifting in a time of conflict and disagreement. These are complicated topics, that many only delve into at the university level, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue for your students!

We were really impressed with the level of all of the teams’ presentations, and so it is not easy to point out a single contribution. All participating students can be proud of their work. One presentation stood out in that it combined finding many solutions to the problem, with very clear and “straight to the point” communication. Group 9, that worked on the ‘Energy use and effective use of energy‘ case,  showed an understanding of the problems and solutions, and the underlying aspects like physics etc. which gave their arguments solid grounding. They pointed out the importance of tailoring the solutions to the farm and its surroundings, which is also an important aspect.

In short, our rekindled partnership has been a hit with our students and staff. Sometimes, international-mindedness starts just 45 minutes away! Congrats, and we look forward to the next project together with RCN!

Please read the winning presentation written by Andrea Marcelo, Enni Huttunen, Frida Knudsen-Kvernevik, Noah Flarup, Petra Poór, Sheryl Xue, Tempa Dorji.

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UWC Red Cross Nordic’s role in OD day

2023-11-10T11:32:37+01:00November 7th, 2023|

OD-day is a day that takes place every year across Norway. OD stands for Operasjon Dagsverk or Operation Day’s Work.

Each year the organisation chooses a new cause to donate money to, the concept of the day is for Norwegian school students to participate in a day of work and send the money to the OD organisation. This year, first year students at UWC RCN, an international school located in Flekke, participated in OD dagen for the first time in the school’s history. Roxana Saucedo Villarroel and I, Leslie Nöelle Ndikumana, had the opportunity to work as the media crew and document all of the work happening in Førde. The four workplaces we got to look at in Førde were: NOREC with Nicola Maria Tembo, Rofayda Fayed, Piotr Suchecki and Tenzin Norbu Lama, PULS Førde with Enrico Bazzana, Sport Outlet with Abigail Katherine Napier and Mubashra Iftikhar and the Sogn og Fjordane Kunstmuseum with Maya Atmani and Lakaw Lin. In total 90 students participated in OD dagen across Fjaler, Holmedal, Askvoll, Hyllestad and Førde. The students took part in a variety of activities including serving customers in cafes, playing bingo with residents in a nursing home, gardening in people’s homes and helping a local art gallery prepare for an exhibition opening. A fun but meaningful day was had by all!

Operation Day’s Work says: “we are Norway’s largest solidarity campaign by and for youth. We strive for a better future by putting global development on the agenda in Norwegian schools. Our vision is a fair world shaped by young people. Through ODW, students in Norwegian schools can contribute to a more just world through solidarity action. ODW believes in youth participation, solidarity and education for development.” UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. We are therefore proud to be representing UWC RCN and working with the OD organisation. This year’s OD is called: Bulletproof future, it’s about identity and indigenous people. All the money collected will go to youth organisations providing alternatives for violence. “Colombia is one of the world’s most dangerous countries to be a human rights defender in. Despite this, young people stand together at the front and fight for their rights. It is not just about protection, but about strengthening one’s own future and present. Young people need safe communities, opportunities and alternatives to violence so that fear never surpasses hope for the future. Together we create a bulletproof community and a bulletproof future.” (Operation Day’s Work, 2023).

NOREC is a Norwegian competence centre for international exchange. By giving young people international workplace experience, we get a better, more sustainable future. The first year students were separated into 2 groups, one working on icebreakers for an upcoming course, and the other working on contacting other countries and partners. The courses aim to educate about a range of different subjects, from preparation to work abroad to workshops around sustainably, crisis management, global understanding and intercultural challenges and opportunities. Icebreakers are a good break from long and heavy workshops, while adding some positivity and fun. Collecting all associated emails and making data entries might be lengthy, but required and still important work for an organisation such as NOREC. Overall the first years had a very enjoyable experience and appreciated the opportunity.

PULS Førde is a gym located in Alti Førde shopping centre. It’s a facility on the top floor with an incredible range of machines, a cardio room, strength room, spin room and even a studio for dance, yoga, pilates, workouts and more. Enrico was set to work cleaning and organising the gym, afterwards he was allowed to test out the equipment and we were all invited back another day. It was a great change of environment and an appreciated learning opportunity.

Sport Outlet is a store located in the same building as PULS Førde, the two businesses having an agreement where you get discounts for membership at the gym. Abigail and Mubashra worked as store clerks, unboxing, labelling and organising clothes for the store.

Sogn og Fjordane’s kunstmuseum is setting up a new exhibition, opening on the 3rd of November, called: Rolv Muri, eg målar med jord under neglene. It directly translates to Rolv Muri, I paint with dirt under my nails. Maya and Lakaw helped preparing for the new exhibition, as well as sorting and documenting artworks of different artists to know what’s available for other exhibitions. Contributing to preserving and enhancing the community around us is something important to all UWC students, and they were both grateful for the opportunity to work there.

NOREC, PULS Førde, Sport Outlet and Sogn og Fjordane kunstmuseum’s collaboration with UWC RCN and OD has given us the great opportunity to work hard for a cause, to provide, help and contribute even from such a great distance. Fulfilling both the UWC values and what OD stands for. We are thankful and happy for such great help, and hope this continues on being a tradition for everyone coming after us.

A huge thank you to the following businesses who hosted our students at work for the day:

UWC Connect
Joker Flekke
På Håret Dale
Nordisk Kunstnarsenter
Fabel Kafé og Motel
Allmuen
Fjaler kommune
Fjaler sjukeheim
Jakob Sande senter for forteljekunst
Dale Ungdomslag
BUA / Fjaler Frivilligsentral
NOREC
Sport Outlet Førde
Puls Førde
Sogn og Fjordane KunstmuseumHelle Knivfabrikk
POWER Askvoll
Jensbua Kystkultursenter

You can read more about this year’s OD campaign here: https://www.od.no/skuddsikker

The photos and words here were produced by our OD dagen media crew: Shaunna Wu, Anni Tietäväinen, Mariam Salek, Ángel Axel Méndez Mejía, Elizabeth Chiu, Leslie Nöelle Ndikumana, Roxana Saucedo Villarroel

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PBL Week October 2023

2023-11-21T12:19:50+01:00November 7th, 2023|

Project Based Learning week, or as we call it, PBL is an integral part of our CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) program, which serves as the core of the Diploma Programme. CAS aims to enhance students’ personal and interpersonal growth and is structured around three key elements: creativity, activity, and service.

During PBL week, both students and staff propose and complete projects that align with the College’s core principles, emphasizing the Nordic, Humanitarian, or Environmental aspects. Throughout this week, students acquire essential skills, foster valuable attitudes, and develop strong dispositions through a variety of individual and collaborative experiences. These experiences provide them with opportunities to explore their interests and express their passions, personalities, and unique perspectives.

Active involvement in planning and executing these projects is encouraged, allowing students to engage actively in reflection and work towards achieving some of the seven objectives set forth by the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

This year we dedicated a microsite for the PBL week, where supervisors of the projects could share their experiences:

PBL October 2023

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