On Saturday 19 October, student Chapter committee members from across the country came together for our annual Building Community Leaders event. Together, we explored ways to strengthen collaboration, reflected on past achievements, and laid out a bold vision for the year ahead.
The day kicked off with a dynamic Three Horizons workshop led by Operations and Activities Coordinator, Jacob Samuels. The session encouraged attendees to think critically about the present challenges, future opportunities, and long-term goals for their Chapters, sparking lively discussions and fresh ideas for the year ahead.
A key highlight of the day was hearing from Ellie Carey, who shared her inspiring journey with Engineers Without Borders UK. Starting as a Chapter member, Ellie quickly grew her involvement with Engineers Without Borders UK, becoming a Chapter President for the University of Bristol and Student Champion. Today, she is an essential part of the Engineers Without Borders UK staff team, leading on our Systems Change Lab and exploring how we can evolve our collaborations.
“Building Community Leaders showed me that I am one of many people doing their little bit in the big job that is sustainable engineering. It was inspiring to see such passionate people implementing their belief through action and learning how I could do more of the same.”
– Alistair Abbott, Student Champion
We also took time to celebrate last year’s successes, with Chapters highlighting the hands-on designathons and workshops they’ve delivered as a key achievement. Attendees also shared that meeting like-minded people from different disciplines and collaborating with other Chapters and societies for events was a core part of their experience, with one student explaining: “People join for the projects but stay for the community!”
Looking ahead, attendees shared great ideas on how to improve Chapter success, with calls for more shared resources, platforms for collaboration, and support in securing funding from industry.
“The Building Community Leaders event was an amazing opportunity to learn more about what EWB UK are working on and meet many other like-minded engineers… I’m sure this event will lead to a myriad of collaborations and exchanged advice between Chapters.”
– Isobel Hunt, Student Champion
As always, we encourage committee members to reach out with any questions, concerns or plans for the year at [email protected].
Learn more about our student Chapters and how you can get involved.
