Virtual Exchange Case Study: IREX

• In Event: Global competence for a sustainable future: cases from virtual exchange

Proposal

IREX is a global development and education organization that invests in people and institutions in 120 countries around the world to extend access to education and information, empower youth and cultivate leaders.

Today’s interconnected economy requires youth entering the job market to be equipped with soft skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and global competence (OECD/Asia Society, 2018) . IREX’s virtual innovation programs connect students around the world to build 21st century skills through international virtual collaboration and real-world problem solving. IREX’s Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge is a workforce development program that connects community college students and faculty across the United States with college students and faculty in Jordan on bi-national teams to solve industry challenges with sustainable business solutions for the hospitality and tourism industry. Students build critical thinking through investigating sustainability issues in their community through an environmental, economic and cultural perspective and share about their communities through virtual collaboration. Then students engage in design challenge thinking to create a collaborative solution to a sustainability challenge, build and test a prototype for market. Students engage with industry and sustainability experts in order to develop a sustainable solution.

For this panel, IREX will critically reflect on student impact and lessons learned from the Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge virtual exchange program and evaluation conducted with RTI International around development of global competence, cross cultural collaboration and sustainable business skills. IREX will share observations on developing inclusive programming and increasing access to global competence opportunities for students from underserved backgrounds across demographics including students including underrepresented students from rural and urban areas. The project emphasizes building capacity in sustainable business development while empowering students to connect globally.

Examples of sustainable business prototypes created by the Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge include a sustainable grey water system for hotel industries in Iowa and Jordan, a biogas power system created from hotel food waste and a large scale entertainment and tourism venture to promote the sustainability of the coral reef in the Florida Keys.

Author

• Sarah Huey Bever, IREX