The University was awarded for its work in the Creative Spark Big Idea Challenge, delivered on behalf of the British Council.
Date: 8 October 2021
In September 2021, London Met placed third in this year’s HE Innovate Awards 2021 for the most innovative approach to developing employability skills. The awards recognise and reward academics and higher education professionals who have developed innovative ways to teach and support their students.
The award comes about after Accelerator’s work with the Creative Spark Big Idea Challenge, initiated by the School of Social Professions in 2019. Delivered on behalf of the British Council, the Creative Spark Big Idea Challenge is an international pitching competition adapted from London Met’s original Big Idea Challenge format. Since 2019, the competition has taken place yearly across 70 HEI institutions in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The Creative Spark programme aims to promote entrepreneurship amongst young students in the regions. During the awarded 2020 edition, nearly one thousand students engaged with various competition activities, introducing them to important concepts for early-stage entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on how to pitch their idea.
The competition featured innovative ideas from more than 400 teams across the competition's three categories: Digital Tech, Social Impact and Creative.
Sandra Höfemeier, Project Manager for the Creative Spark Programme, said: “We are extremely proud of this achievement. The Big Idea Challenge is such a fantastic format and platform for young people to showcase their ideas, and it's incredibly rewarding to see this partnership with the British Council and the impact that it has on the lives of young people recognised in this way.
“We are currently busy providing support to 2021s 33 winning teams, to help them turn their idea into a reality. Alongside that, we're already looking ahead to another year of working with the British Council in 2022 and thinking about how we can make next year's competition the best ever!”
