Partner globally to advance educational excellence locally.
Experiential learning. At scale. Online.
How to Change the World spun out as a social enterprise from University College London (UCL). Today we provide experiences for higher education students and educators to help transform careers for a sustainable future.
Experiential student programs
Our flagship programs are experiential online Bootcamps and Courses designed for students and early-career professionals. Every program brings together hundreds of participants from many institutions worldwide to tackle real-world challenges, guided by our global network of community leaders and experts. (see more detail below)
Educator Fellowship
We complement our student-focused programs with a unique fellowship for educators from our higher ed partner institutions. This opportunity provides colleagues with invaluable learning and training on frameworks and practical methods for designing and delivering experiential learning, both at scale and online. (see more detail below)
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Some of the companies represented within our community:
Some of our current and recent higher ed partners:
The student experience
During our Bootcamps, students from across disciplines, institutions and geographies work together in small teams within larger cohorts. Each team identifies and tackles a focused problem within the broad sustainability challenges faced by a real-world community. Along the way, teams engage with local community representatives and globally diverse experts, and are supported by an experienced teaching team. At the end of the program, each team creates a multimedia summary of their work and is interviewed by academic and industry experts.
All participants receive Digital Credentials and the opportunity to attend one of our unique "Careers Connections" – and winning teams receive additional experiential prizes!
"equips students with the knowledge and skills needed to tackle real-world sustainability and innovation challenges."
4th Year Software Engineering Student
The educator experience
One of our aims as a social enterprise is to support our higher ed partners to expand their ability to deliver exceptional experiential learning. Our Experiential Educator Fellowship provides educators at all stages of their career with a unique professional development opportunity. The Fellowship includes formal training on pedagogical frameworks and practical methods for designing and delivering experiential learning, both at scale and online, through asynchronous materials and a live virtual training workshop. After completing the training, Fellows are invited to join our teaching teams for an experiential teaching and learning practicum, as well as regular Fellowship events fostering community and knowledge exchange.
Why we're currently focused on sustainability
Since 2017, there has been a 36-fold increase in companies setting sustainability targets. However, only 17% report having employees with the necessary skills to start even making progress towards these targets, meaning that up to 150 million employees will need to acquire sustainability skills within the next decade. (BCG 2023) Meanwhile, prioritising 'nature-positive' solutions could generate an additional 395 million jobs by 2030. WEF 2020)
Students want to learn sustainability skills
With the rising demand for sustainability and green skills, 84% of higher education students want much more sustainability knowledge and skills integrated into their courses, and 70% seek more sustainability-focused experiential learning. (SOS 2021; Yale 2022) The green transition is an opportunity for the next generation to make its mark building a more sustainable and equitable world.
Closing the sustainability skills gap
Students have the passion and drive to tackle sustainability challenges and help companies achieve their targets, but they need experiential opportunities that equip them with the mindsets, frameworks and skills — as well as hands-on experience — that companies are looking for.
Our Bootcamps empower students to make a positive impact through practical, real-world experience. We link this with our Experiential Educator Fellowship to support our higher education partners in offering their students more opportunities to tackle real-world sustainability challenges.
Learn more about our vision, mission, values and origins as a social enterprise here.
We also deliver credit-bearing courses in partnership with many higher ed partners. While we recommend that new partners start with our extracurricular Bootcamps and Educator Fellowship, you are welcome to book a call with us to learn more about our credit-bearing courses.
Our Credit-bearing Courses
