PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT:

Social Impact Virtual Lab '21

featuring the university of washington and greenplat

How much is trash worth?

Developed by Campus b, the central idea of this program was to work with a real Brazilian social issue in order to promote innovative social solutions that would help to overcome a factual challenge local people have to face.

THE SOLUTION

A group of 6 students from 2 different countries (USA and Brazil) worked together for 4 weeks on a project with GreenPlat,

a company based in Brazil specialized in the development of a technology capable of tracking companies’ and entities’ entire production, supply and commercial chain and also manages the production losses. Besides all the company meetings and classes with the leading faculty members, the students had the opportunity to get closer to Brazilian culture, as they had workshops about people, gastronomy and street art. This way, the program successfully connected the three pillars: academic, professional and cultural.

Anauyla Batista

GreenPlat Marketing Director

“It was very rewarding to work with a group of curious, interested and dedicated students. We were impressed with the quality of the exchange we had, I hope that this group will remain engaged throughout their professional journey. You from Campus B’s team were also helpful, easy to deal with on a daily basis and made a difference so that the program flowed smoothly.”

This experience was designed to promote an immersion opportunity for American and Brazilian students concerning the social and environmental problems related to waste in our society. A connection between undergraduate students interested in social issues in Brazil with a GreenPlat, a company that seeks sustainable solutions for waste using technology.

Social Virtual Lab

6 students

Brazil

"It was an incredible experience to develop ideas, projects and knowledge exchanges. In addition to being able to help the impactful enterprise, the program offers joint learning from different cultures, making all participants raise their empathy and their soft skills of international team and culture."

Background

Over the course of 4 weeks, the students had access to classes and mentoring sessions offered by prof. Marcus Nakagawa and prof. Denise Delboni, and that gave them an overview of the theoretical basis for Brazilian companies and waste issues in the country.

The Results

During those 4-weeks, the following concept and practices were explored:

Develop of Multicultural Abilities

During those 4-weeks, the group needed to get together, have discussions and conduct research regarding the issue of waste in Sao Paulo and how people are affected by it. The group was composed of 2 Brazilian students and 4 USA students, all with different backgrounds, studying different fields and having different professional experiences. Besides that, all the activities and classes were also run by Brazilian faculty and speakers, so it was a very multicultural environment.

Understanding of Different Context

During the program, students were able to understand the differences between their own reality and the scenario of the waste pickers (catadores) and cooperatives in Brazil. More than that, considering the differences and connections from Sao Paulo (the city where GreenPlat is based) and Seattle (the city where all of the American students live), they could make suggestions and analysis. For that, they took into consideration the local reality and the resources available, in addition to how that could have a positive impact on those who were more directly affected by the waste issue.

Improve Critical Thinking

The program gave the students content and tools to understand the problem and its impacts, and through that they were able to improve their critical thinking regarding a matter that is global, even though they specifically studied the case of Sao Paulo.

Development of Interpersonal Communication

Over those 4 weeks, the group had the chance to develop interpersonal communication skills in the weekly presentations they had to give to GreenPlat about their research and also between themselves as a group, while they were discussing solutions.

"The project I worked on is really challenging & interesting but really rewarding in the end of it as well. I feel like I have learned a lot. And I am thankful to everyone I met who have been so supportive! I'm really happy with & proud of the final deliverable our team put together. Overall, it's an excellent experience!"

Emily Sun ReedUniversity of Washington

"The internship experience with Campus B was awesome. I developed skills such as cultural awareness, adaptability, time management, and critical thinking which will help me in my career. Furthermore, the opportunity to meet students and professionals in Brazil and even at my university was amazing. I made friends from across the world and I plan to maintain these relationships moving forward. All in all, this experience developing a social currency for Plataforma Verde was productive and rewarding."

Jaret PustaiUniversity of Washington

"I learned a lot and met some pretty cool people through this program. Learning how to navigate a business problem in a foreign country taught me to think differently than I normally would, and I grew a lot through this program."

Allison ParkUniversity of Washington

" I would like to thank Campus B and all its collaborators for another incredible experience, this program was a lot of learning for me, I was able to learn about things I didn't know about my own country and city, completely changed the way I think and impacted too much in my life, I am very proud of the person I became after this program and super happy with the new friendships I made."

Guilherme Silva OliveiraPontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo

Our passion in the academic ﬁeld has given us the privilege of actively collaborating with more than 80 universities, offering professional and extracurricular experience journeys directly impacting more than 4000 students.

Written by:

Letícia Tavares and Gabriela Elias

Campus b Team

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