The U7+ Alliance of World Universities is a coalition of leading universities around the world, aimed at defining actions they can take to collectively address global challenges in coordination with G7 governments and beyond. This year, Ashesi University hosted the 2026 U7+ Student Challenge on its campus in Berekuso, Ghana, bringing together students from 17 member universities across 11 countries for a week of collaboration, innovation, and intercultural exchange. The theme, “Global Anchor Institutions: Harnessing University Networks for Local Resilience,” was drawn from the 2026 U7+ Presidential Summit’s focus on the social role of universities in a divided world.
Students worked in interdisciplinary, inter-institutional teams to pitch initiatives that address one of three sub-challenges: transforming campuses into community hubs, combating disinformation through academic rigour, and making university resources more accessible to local populations. More than a competition, the Challenge became a showcase of critical thinking and exchange of worldviews, with Ghanaian history and culture interwoven as a central part of the week.
Ashiya Dewan
Ashiya Dewan recently completed her second year at the University of Toronto, pursuing a double major in Peace, Conflict & Justice at the Munk School alongside Ethics, Society & Law at Trinity College. As a Laidlaw Scholar, she investigated the role of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) on Indigenous-led education initiatives across Canada. As a Digital Policy Hub Fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation, she is examining how artificial intelligence and EdTech are reshaping education for socioeconomically disadvantaged children. She is also conducting fieldwork with schools in rural England to understand how new technologies are impacting students facing poverty, and serving as Academic Director of the Peace, Conflict & Justice Society.
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As part of Team 5 alongside delegates from Northwestern University, LMU Munich, the University of the West Indies, and Université de Montréal, I helped develop S.E.E.D: Social Exchange for Educational Democracy, which earned first place at the Student Challenge for innovation, feasibility and social impact. S.E.E.D. is an institutional framework that aims to transform universities from isolated academic sites into active civic partners embedded within their surrounding communities. Through recurring, student-led public learning sessions held in accessible community spaces such as libraries, schools and community centres, S.E.E.D. brings the best of university knowledge outside their ivory towers and into environments where communities already live and gather.
S.E.E.D. would use an annual public consultation to identify the sustainability-related needs and priorities of local communities, which are then matched to university courses across departments, mandating a ‘community engagement’ component in those that align. We chose sustainability as a focus because this is where the gap between academic knowledge and community need is most urgent and most mutual. University expertise in climate science, engineering, and urban policy is only as useful as communities’ ability to act on it. We investigated how this would play out in a variety of case studies based on each teammate’s regional background: in Munich, energy law students can help translate complex EU climate policy for households facing energy poverty; in Canada, Indigenous communities have generations of traditional ecological knowledge of water systems that universities are just beginning to document; in Accra, residents of slum settlements bring lived expertise of flood patterns and alternative housing while university students can contribute better climate modelling and adaption techniques. We built this idea with the goal of achieving true reciprocity: academic research and community experience treated as equally legitimate forms of knowledge, each capable of informing the other in ways neither can achieve alone.
S.E.E.D. was deeply informed by my experience as a student mentor with Humanities for Humanity at Trinity College, where I saw firsthand the impact of making university-level texts accessible to non-traditional learners, and how this contributes to breaking down the ivory towers not just of our buildings, but of our minds. My prior research of Indigenous-led education initiatives across Canada showed me the value of unique knowledge systems beyond Eurocentricism – this engagement with different worldviews was also a highlight of the U7+ experience.
The most meaningful part of this experience for me was observing how others around the world see and feel the same issues differently. From my fellow delegates, I learned that in Trinidad, infrastructure challenges leave no room for theoretical interventions, so solutions must be concrete to mean something – this altered how my team approached S.E.E.D. to be as tangible as possible. I learned how low-income communities in Chicago cultivated extraordinary community gardens through local knowledge, which bolstered my team’s understanding of how communities are integral to sustainable development. I learned that the Nigerian humour I admire so much is culturally rooted and deeply intentional, with storytelling and laughter as a way of living with political corruption back home. From the student volunteers at Ashesi University—whose open-heartedness filled each day with enrichment and cultural immersion, who made Ashesi University feel like a home away from home—I learned to laugh more, to dance more, to be more present and deepen every connection.
Working with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures taught us to be utterly and openly ourselves, so that we may bring the best of our uniqueness to one another.
What began as a healthy competition, quickly became something far more meaningful, shaped by the Ghanaian spirit of welcome, the generosity of Ashesi University and lessons learned from their institution’s foundation built on empowering their local communities. It revealed to me just how powerful it is to convene global perspectives around tackling local challenges, and how university networks are one of the rare spaces that can do that so well.
Nicole Stochmal
Nicole Stochmal recently completed an Honours Bachelor of Science at the University of Toronto, where she pursued a double major in Environmental Science and Psychology and a minor in Environment and Behaviour. During her undergraduate studies, she conducted research on climate vulnerability and environmental behaviour, while contributing to campus sustainability initiatives through various positions including Co-President of the University of Toronto’s Student Environmental Resource Network (UTERN) and Sustainability Project Assistant with the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability (CECCS). This fall, she will begin the University of Toronto’s Master of Environment and Sustainability (MES) program, where her thesis will examine the mental health impacts of climate change in rural communities in southern Madagascar.
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As part of Team 6, I worked with delegates from the University of Alberta, University of Ottawa, and Université Paris Cité to develop CommonsLab: a globally connected and locally adaptable support network designed to strengthen access to education and skills development for underserved communities. CommonsLab seeks to transform universities from isolated educational institutions into active community partners by extending academic resources beyond campus boundaries.
The idea emerged through research into educational barriers faced by young women in Berekuso and surrounding Ghanaian communities, where responsibilities such as water collection and household labour can interrupt schooling and limit future opportunities. As my team explored these challenges, we recognized that educational barriers are often rooted in broader social and environmental realities. While universities cannot solve these challenges on their own, they possess resources, expertise, and networks that can help create new pathways back into learning.
CommonsLab was designed with this opportunity in mind. The initiative connects higher education institutions, community organizations, and learners through a shared U7+ repository of workshop materials, mentorship opportunities, and implementation frameworks. The model begins with community members and organizations identifying areas where educational support or skills development are needed. Local universities can then draw upon existing resources within the repository or collaborate with U7+ partners to develop new programming tailored to local priorities and contexts.
A central feature of this initiative is its emphasis on local relevance and long-term sustainability. Workshops are co-developed alongside community organizations, facilitators, and participants to reflect local educational systems, cultural contexts, and lived experiences. Graduate students and faculty support curriculum design and evaluation, while undergraduate students contribute through workshop facilitation for academic credit or volunteer recognition. Workshop participants earn locally recognized micro-credentials that acknowledge newly developed skills and strengthen pathways into further education, employment, and community leadership. Over time, local facilitators assume increasing responsibility for program delivery and adaptation, ensuring long-term sustainability within the communities themselves.
While developing CommonsLab was an incredibly rewarding experience, my strongest memories of the week extend far beyond the challenge itself.
What stays with me most is the sense of connection that emerged throughout the week. Whether interacting with fellow delegates, student volunteers, organizers, or members of the broader Ashesi community, people approached one another with kindness, openness, and a genuine desire to engage. Despite coming from different countries, disciplines, and backgrounds, it never felt difficult to connect.
That sense of connection was reinforced by the collective willingness people showed to participate fully. There seemed to be a genuine eagerness to ask questions, share perspectives, embrace unfamiliar experiences, and learn from one another. Conversations moved effortlessly between academic interests, personal stories, cultural traditions, and future aspirations. Rather than creating distance, our differences often became starting points for meaningful conversation.
Many of my favourite memories came from small moments that were never part of the formal programme. Whether exchanging stories about life in different parts of the world, exploring Ghanaian culture, or simply laughing together between working sessions, these moments often felt just as meaningful as the challenge itself. They served as reminders that some of the most valuable learning takes place outside classrooms, presentations, and structured discussions.
Perhaps what surprised me most was how quickly those interactions developed into genuine relationships. In many settings, it takes time to move beyond introductions and surface-level conversation. At Ashesi, that process happened with surprising ease. People approached one another with curiosity rather than judgment, creating an environment where enthusiasm, vulnerability, and genuine interest in others felt completely normal.
In a time when it can feel easier to remain guarded, this experience reminded me how much becomes possible when people show up authentically and engage wholeheartedly.
More than anything, the week in Ghana left me with a renewed sense of optimism. It reminded me that meaningful relationships do not require people to share the same experiences, perspectives, or backgrounds; they require a willingness to listen, learn, and meet one another with empathy. Long after the challenge concluded, it is this spirit—and the relationships it fostered—that remain the most meaningful part of my experience.
To learn more about the U7+ Alliance of World Universities, please visit their official website.