Challenge: SDG 2 Zero Hunger: Innovating for a Resilient and Inclusive Agrifood future

This Global Citizenship Seminar focuses on SDG 2,  Zero Hunger, and explores how might we harness the resources, innovation, and expertise of businesses—especially multinational corporations—to reimagine agrifood systems as engines of economic empowerment and resilience.

Leading Questions:

�                How can businesses leverage their global supply chains, technologies, and partnerships to tackle food insecurity and promote sustainable agrifood practices?

�                How might public-private partnerships create inclusive solutions that reduce food loss and waste while supporting local producers and communities?

�                How can businesses drive systemic change by addressing infrastructure gaps, improving market access, and enhancing trade integration in regions most affected by hunger?

Students will be guided through a design thinking workshop to identify gaps where MNCs could intervene meaningfully, be it improving value chains, enabling access to finance, or fostering local technology adoption. The proposals developed through design thinking workshops should be bold, scalable ideas that bring stakeholders together across the private and public sectors, leveraging local strengths and focussing on inclusive, sustainable growth. Proposals will be presented at the UN to a jury of UNIDO experts.

DAY 1 – Monday, 17th March 2025 at WU Campus
1. UNIDO opens the skills seminar with a plenary session at WU- including UN SDGs and how this links to what UNIDO does. The plenary also includes the challenge for  students to work on, with background and context.
2.  The students will then break into groups and will be led through a design thinking workshop to generate ideas and proposals.

During the week, students will continue to work on their ideas.

DAY 2 – Friday, 21st March 2025 
1. In the morning, students will continue their design thinking workshop and develop their presentations.
2. In the afternoon, students will go to the UN campus (VIC, CR3), and present their findings to a jury of UNIDO experts.

The students will learn:

1. Design Thinking Approaches: to develop sustainable solutions.
2. Responsible Citizenship: the role of business in developing solutions for ending hunger, working with a multi-stakeholder perspective to develop proposals.
3. Reflective Critical Thinking: developing agile and reflective solutions; ability to formulate and apply innovative solutions to complex business and societal challenges in diverse contexts.

This seminar is mandatory. 100% attendance is required.

Lectures, design thinking workshops, experiential learning, UNIDO field trip

Active participation in the course will be sufficient to obtain 2 ECTS for this mandatory seminar.

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.