13.–15. August 2025, Kopenhagen Global Health Solution 2025 Design Sprint

From 13–15 August, the Global Health Solution 2025 Design Sprint took place at the University of Copenhagen, hosted at the inspiring KU Lighthouse innovation hub.
This year’s challenge asked students to tackle a pressing issue of our time: how to manage chronic diseases, specifically diabetes, in war zones such as Lebanon. Over three intense days, international student teams engaged in design thinking, stakeholder mapping, and pitch training sessions. They developed innovative solutions, ranging from practical interventions to systemic ideas, and presented them directly to the Danish Red Cross, who provided constructive and challenging feedback from a practitioner’s perspective.
We are especially proud that 15 students from Heidelberg University (5 of them were Geographers) joined this year’s cohort, representing one of the largest university delegations. Their outstanding performance was made possible through the support, funding, and organization of the 4EU+ European University Alliance.
The Design Sprint once again demonstrated the value of challenge-based learning: combining academic insight with real-world problems and empowering students with critical skills such as teamwork, creativity, and resilience.
The journey will continue this October in Geneva, where the winning team will have the opportunity to further develop and present their ideas on an international stage.