Triggering Change Pitch

HOW TO USE CREATIVITY AND ENGAGEMENT TO INSPIRE ACTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY  

Triggering Change is a two-minute pitch that uses creativity to inspire action on sustainability. Since its creation in 2022, it has involved 430 students from 80 countries. 

Every semester, the pitch revolves around two UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Participants attend four online Prep sessions with global experts and then produce their pitch, either individually or in a pair. Before and after the project, students take Sulitest, an online awareness test that measures their eco-literacy. The average increase in the core module over the course of the five-week duration of the project in Fall 2024 was 20%.

Winners receive a €100 Patagonia voucher. A Certificate in Sustainability is available to students who complete the pitch. (The pitch is complete when students attend the sessions, submit the pitch on time, and complete the Sulitest survey at the beginning and end of the project).

In Spring 2025, Triggering Change will focus on SDG 4, Quality Education, and SDG 5, Gender Equality. 

John Cabot University students will be joined by those from Richmond University, Oxford Brookes and University of Arkansas’s Rome campus.

 

PITCH DESCRIPTION

Goal: How to use creative storytelling, research, and multidisciplinary perspectives to design a pitch that is disruptive, emotive, and creates a dialogue related to sustainability, leading the audience to want to create change and make the planet a better place. 

Pitch format: 
The pitch consists of a two-minute video. While students have total freedom in choosing an unusual, creative, and dynamic pitch format (a dialogue, poem, performance, song, etc.) in a setting that is suitable and engaging (a street, shop, beach, forest, etc.), they are discouraged from using static PowerPoint presentations or sitting in front of a screen and reading a script.

Audience:
Every pitch must be addressed to a specific audience – fellow students, children, pregnant mothers, etc.

Key elements to cover:

• Why this issue is important to the audience
• What the challenge is from an environmental sustainability perspective
• How the audience can make a difference
• The takeaway or impact: the audience must be moved to action through a clear call to action

Solution:
Proposals should be environmentally, socially, and economically just and fair. A solution to a specific environmental problem in an industrialized country might have negative social repercussions in a developing country. Don’t make the solution to a challenge in your backyard someone else’s problem further afield.

For more information, visit our FAQs page.

PARTICIPATION, REGISTRATION AND SUBMISSION

PARTICIPATION
Participation requires solid knowledge of the two SDG’s. This is ensured by attendance of the online prep session and consultation of the library resources.

If a participant misses a prep session, a recording can made available. Since all prep sessions are followed by a Q&A, actively attending is preferable to watching the session ex post. 

REGISTRATION
Registration for the pitch is due on February 10. Registered participants will be invited to join a shared platform that will contain all links and information for the project. The link for the registration will be shared soon.

Participants must complete the first Sulitest Awareness Survey session by February 16 at 11:59 PM CET and the second session must be completed by March 17 at 11:59 PM CET. Students need to finalize these steps by these deadlines to continue participating in the pitch.

SUBMISSION
The pitch is due on March 26 at 11:59 PM CET.

For any questions, please contact [email protected]. All students (including those working in pairs) must register individually. For team submissions, include all members' names in the Submission Form.

Prep Session 1: February 19, 6:30 PM CET
The Liminal Space Workshop
The Liminal Space, a London-based agency, has developed this creative thinking workshop specifically for Triggering Change to inspire participants to think creatively about sustainability issues. 

Prep Session 2: February 26, 6:30 PM CET, TBD

Prep Session 3: March 5, 6:30 PM CET, TBD

Prep Session 4: March 19, 6:30 PM CET, Pitch workshop, Prof. Michèle Favorite
Sharpen your pitch, refine your arguments, and submit with confidence!

The selection committee is composed of:

• Prof. Francesco Bedeschi, Residence Director, Faculty of Architecture, U. of Arkansas Rome Program
• Prof. Karen Cripps, Senior Lecturer in Responsible Management and Leadership at Oxford Brookes University, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and Secretary for PRME UK and Ireland Chapter Steering Committee
• Giacomo Di Capua, Postgraduate researcher in Climate Health Economics, TU Dublin & Climate Policy Analyst, Osservatorio Parigi
• Prof. Michèle Favorite, Business Communication and Public Relations, John Cabot University
• Asia Guerreschi, Postdoctoral candidate specializing in Sustainability and Wellbeing, and Founder of Rethinking Climate
• Prof. Carola Hieker, Professor for Organisational Behaviour at Richmond, the American University in London and Adjunct Professor at JCU and Honorary Professor for Transformation Leadership, UCL
• Prof. Tanja Lanza, Entrepreneur & senior strategy consultant, Lecturer in Marketing, John Cabot University

Student Testimonials