In June 2025, Regional Centre of Expertise Ningbo on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE Ningbo), in partnership with OHFI Assest Management, launched the "AI for Sustainable Future" Competition, in order to foster cross-disciplinary innovation among six local institutions: UNNC, Ningbo University, Ningbo Tech University, Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo University of Finance & Economics, and Ningbo University of Technology (listed in random order), and to focus on AI technology to empower the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and cultivate interdisciplinary innovative talents.
Competition Scope & Objectives
This competition prescribes no predefined technical approaches. Participants are encouraged to leverage their disciplinary expertise and core concerns to propose visionary concepts. Unlike traditional full-paper submissions, this initiative emphasises conceptual exploration, problem framing, and early-stage methodological design, prioritising novelty and feasibility of insights over completed research outcomes.
The participating proposals must meet the following core criteria:
- Propose a breakthrough problem framework or innovative solution
- Demonstrate measurable real-world impact and large-scale application potential
- Achieve cross-integration of AI and sustainable development
- Echo the specific indicators of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Competition Category
This competition revolves around the theme of "Artificial Intelligence and Sustainable Development", which features two distinct categories: Technological Innovation and Social Practice.
-- Technological Innovation Category: Encourages participants to leverage AI technologies in prototype development, software engineering, algorithm design, system integration, and exploratory technical solutions that advance sustainability through technological empowerment.
--Social Practice Category: Promotes in-depth analysis of real-world sustainability challenges through empirical field research, data collection, statistical analysis, and evidence-based studies integrated with AI methodologies, culminating in actionable solutions with societal impact.
Theme Direction
1. The path of AI empowering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
-- Resource Optimisation: e.g., urban energy distribution, water resource management
-- Ecological protection: e.g., predictive modeling of endangered species habitats, climate change simulation
-- Social equity: e.g., equitable healthcare/education access in remote regions, gender equality promotion
-- Technological breakthroughs: e.g., accelerating clean energy R&D, circular economy model design
-- Education reform: Exploring AI-era innovations in youth education—including curricular content, digital pedagogy, and future-ready skill development
2. Sustainability risks of AI development
-- Environmental Burden: e.g., carbon footprint of data centers, proliferation of e-waste
-- Social Disruption: e.g., job displacement from automation, algorithmic widening of wealth gaps
-- Ethical Dilemmas: e.g., hyper-personalisation fueling overconsumption (e.g., fast fashion), monopolised tech-driven resource allocation inequities
3. Other issues related to AI and Sustainable Development
Participants
-This competition is open to currently enrolled students from six undergraduate universities in the Greater Ningbo area: Ningbo University, NingboTech University, Ningbo University of Technology, Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo University of Finance and Economics, University of Nottingham Ningbo China(listed in no particular order).
-1-5 people per team, cross-school teams are allowed.
-Each team requires one to two advisors, who must be affiliated with the participating students' home institution.
Bonus Settings
-The first round of evaluation will select outstanding teams, each of which will be provided with RMB 10,000 in financial support.
-The final roadshow of the competition will have the first prize, 30,000 RMB in reward; second prize, 20,000 RMB in reward; third prizes, 10,000 RMB in reward each.
Competition Schedule
Early June 2025, Project Launch and Competition Details Released
June- August 2025, Team Formation and Research Proposal Submission
September 2025, First Round of Review
October 2025- March 2026, Relevant Research Conducted by Shortlisted Groups
April 2026, Final-round Competition and Awards Ceremony
Read More: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/cunQVgBN9_KhYOdgyhkMcQ