UCL School of Management recently hosted its inaugural Summer School for Year 12 students in Canary Wharf. During their 1-week visit, students were tasked with developing a service or app that aimed at tackling waste in London and attended a number of sessions from design thinking experts to support them in their endeavours.
Organised by the team behind UCL School of Management’s BSc Information Management for Business programme, the Summer School allowed students to explore topics at the forefront of modern business, including sustainability and the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), as well as idea generation, prototyping and measuring campaign and decision impact.
In addition to attending insightful sessions from UCL School of Management Associate Professors PJ Hanard and Neil Sutherland, students were able to visit a number of local organisations in east London, including The Felix Project, a London-based charity combatting hunger and food waste. Addressing the second SDG which aims to end global hunger by 2030, the visit provided students with exposure to real-world organisations that are looking to have a positive societal and economic impact.
Additionally, students also addressed SDG goal 15 through a visit to Canary Wharf’s Middle Dock development to learn more about the efforts to improve life on land. A transformation of Middle Dock is currently underway, with plans to create a green spine through the centre of the estate, increasing the presence of greenery in Canary Wharf and creating opportunities for water sports.
Later in the week, we were delighted to welcome IMB alumni Allen Ilica and Dóra Szkurka from Deloitte Digital, who led an innovative guest lecture on the significance of measuring impact. Students also attended a panel hosted by current IMB students Dominik Dangel and Iria Tobio Souto, who shared their first-hand experiences of life at UCL School of Management.
To conclude the Summer School, students presented their innovative solutions to a panel of judges, which included Maya Cara, Associate Professor at UCL School of Management, Deen Kobir, IMB alumnus and Strategy Consultant at Amazon, Usha Kong, Careers and Social Mobility Manager at London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Jane Hollinshead, Chief People Officer at Canary Wharf Group, and David Long, Chief Operating Officer at Delta Capita.
Discussing the outcome of the programme, Professor Susan Smith stated, ‘We were thoroughly impressed with the final presentations that the Summer School participants delivered on the final day. They displayed a fantastic understanding of how to apply the learning from the week to the challenge that we set them.’
Thank you very much to the Summer School’s organising team - Professor Susan Smith, Associate Professor and Programme Director of our IMB programme Maya Cara, Lecturer Edyta Kostanek and Teaching and Learning Administrator Noelle Yip.
Find out more about UCL School of Management’s undergraduate programmes.
