1st & 2nd Place For APU Teams In Collaborative Cross-Student Sustainability Challenge

Aura of medieval architecture, and system to reduce food waste became jury’s choice for healthier and green, sustainable campus

This pandemic has made us value green spaces and biodiversity more than ever and highlighted the importance of connecting with nature. Recognising this, Staffordshire University (SU), UK organised a collaborative cross-student project with Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) to raise awareness of sustainability as a platform for students to engage and collaborate creative ideas for the Great Green Sustainability Challenge 2021. 

The sustainability challenge project aims to encourage students to reflect on the challenges of the past 12 months (pandemic lockdown) as a collaborative team and to focus on how they can create a ‘healthier and happier campus’ by enhancing, creating and designing new green sustainable learning spaces.

Jury’s choice for healthier and happier campus

Early this month, out of 16 teams that participated in the final pitching session, Jason Nicholas Tansil (APU), Maneeh Faiz Rashaad (APU), and Zowie Moore (SU) won first place with their invention called Zen Garden, an aura of medieval architecture enhanced by the current technological advancements — green concept focusing on sustainable infrastructure that upholds the importance of health both physically and mentally.

The jury was impressed with their creative pitching which included a well-being garden built around an artificial lake with a communal greenhouse at its centre. The garden had Zen Kiosks and spaces for outdoor education and entertainment.

Staff and students could book a relaxing place to escape from stress while food and drinks could be purchased in the bazaar area using a green currency called Emerald Green. This currency could be earned through pro-environmental activities such as planting trees then and donating them to Zen Garden.

According to Jason, each member of the Zen Garden group had their own role and every day during the challenge, they would brainstorm, update and exchange information found through the WhatsApp group.

Jason top right while Maneeh top left, both from APU won first place in the Great Green Sustainability Challenge 2021 with their invention called Zen Garden. 

“I personally worked on the design and technological part of the project while Maneeh and Zowie managed to combine all the ideas together and make it easier to understand.

“We actively corresponded with Dr Daniel Ruiz de Garibay to talk about this innovation and got a lot of fruitful feedback from him.

“If we had a chance, we hope that we can work as a team together to participate in more competitions again. We also would like to improve the existing idea with cool and unprecedented facilities along with more sophisticated technology over the time,” he said.

Another team, the sustainable food pitch won second place for their invention entitled The Beacon Food Portal. Their slick and professional pitch was delivered by Samir Musaev (APU), Tan Yi Xin (APU), Hassan Hassanzadeh Aliabadi (APU) and Tom Cox (SU).


Samir (top left), Hassan (top middle) and Yi Xin (bottom right), trio from APU created the Beacon Food Portal to reduce community food waste.

The jury liked their idea that used an app to reduce community food waste and help students struggling to manage on a budget while encouraging sustainable eating habits. In line with the theme of the challenge was a recognition of how food helps bring people together, their plan also involved a communal kitchen area on campus where groups and societies could gather for themed meals and events. 

“The idea came initially out of someone mentioning Too Good To Go, an app that's quite popular in Europe. We took that initial idea and expanded upon it.  

“Everyone involved was really helpful, both from APU and Staffordshire. We're thankful especially to our supervisor Dr Chia Kei Wei from APU and Staffordshire lecturer Dr Paul Barratt,” said Samir.

This cross-student sustainability challenge project also included a collaborative workforce between academic teams of both universities including, Assoc. Prof Dr Jason James Turner (APU), Prof Dr Andy Seddon (APU), Dr Daniel Ruiz de Garibay (APU), Dr Chia Kei Wei (APU), Ms Fiona Lalitha Sadagopan (APU), Ms Haslina Hashim (APU), Dr Carol Southhall (SU), Dr Paul Barratt (SU), Dr Ahmad Mlouk (SU), Ms Sophia Harding (SU), Ms Fatimah Moran (SU) and others.

Dr Paul Barratt, SU's Senior Lecturer, told APU that all the groups did very well and enjoyed the international perspective on the theme of the challenge. 

“I hope all of you have found the experience to be fun, enjoyable, and exhilarating as all teams have had to come up with many interesting ideas for this competition.

“We recognised how adventurous you were when you volunteered to work with our students in the U.K. It was evident that your dedication and commitment in doing something different for Sustainability Challenge 2021 will prepare you for the challenges of working on international projects in your future careers.

“We’d love to have your (APU) students involved again next year,” he said.

He added that the Great Greet Team and Staffordshire Business School (SBS) — organiser of this challenge — currently in the process of preparing certificates for all participants and arranging the prizes for the winners which will be ready next week.