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Five Days to Tackle the World’s Most Pressing Problems

14 April 2020

Five different skillsets and five working days to find a solution that meets the UN Sustainable Development Goals under the theme ‘Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure’.


Innovation Management student Benedicte Ravn Rahbek got the chance of a lifetime when she

was selected to take part in the global competition UNLEASH 2019 in Shenzhen.


I have always been interested in sustainability and am very enthusiastic about the whole concept, so when I was told that SDC would give me one of the applicant recommendations at their disposal, I had no doubts’, says Benedicte Ravn Rahbek.


From Finance to Space Science

Her group members studied business, space science, finance and international business. However, at UNLEASH, they addressed the issue on traffic congestion and its social and economic impact in Manila. Together, they came up with the idea BuildIn.


The concept is repurposing unutilised buildings on the outskirts of Manila for creative use, to avoid costly demolition and rebuilding, thereby reducing traffic in the city’s central business districts.


The process of recognising the roots of the problem and finding creativity-enhancing methods to identify a solution usually takes months. However, the groups in the competition had only a few days.


The experience has given me personal connections across the world. I have also kept in mind how my internship can benefit from my participation in UNLEASH. I bring home valuable experience with design thinking as a way of starting up projects. Also, I got insight into the existing opportunities for Danish companies in China’, says Benedicte Ravn Rahbek, who

is now an intern at DI-Asia Base Business Services in Shanghai.