A two-week session of impacting lives by using Design Thinking to approach social problems has ended at Heritage Christian College, a university at Amasaman, Accra.

Led by a team of seasoned international senior coaches, the training brought together 21 junior coaches from 8 countries to pair with 21 coaches from Heritage to train 142 students of Heritage and a few other organisations.

The event, sponsored by the Lufthansa Group, aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and intercultural exchange through Design Thinking. Impact Week Ghana 2023 featured 7 tracks with 21student teams. The tracks are: Digitalisation in Education, Female Empowerment, Transportation, Health, Agriculture, Entrepreneurial Skills and Youth Unemployment.

All 21 teams presented their ideas to a jury of 6 members. Team “Liberation” from the Female Empowerment track came first after a moving presentation to stop the stigma against girls during their menstrual periods, advocating for affordable and lasting sanitary products. Team “Eco-Warriors” from the Transportation track, who took second place, presented a solution to create awareness about recycling waste generated mostly during transit
“Grow Ghana” finished in third place after working on how to create awareness about growing and consuming local foods. The overall winners, Team “Liberation”, pitched their idea to UNFPA in Accra for further guidance and mentoring, to ensure that the idea is brought to fruition.

An amount of €1,000 has been set aside by organizers of Impact Week for any of the 21 teams to access if they wish to proceed with their ideas. Impact Week Ghana 2023 fostered collaboration, innovation and a different to tackling the complex challenges facing Ghana. The event showcased the transformative potential of Design Thinking in driving positive change across various sectors.

This is the fourth time Impact Week has been held in Ghana, and the second consecutive time it has been hosted by Heritage Christian College, a testament to the university’s quest “to become a leading Christian university promoting excellence in the advancement of knowledge and entrepreneurship to transform lives and society.”