All Student Challenges news items
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Space-inspired farming innovation wins the ReThink Food Challenge
- After six months of ideation, pivots, and pitching, the ReThink Food Challenge wrapped up with a Grand Finale at Omnia, Wageningen University & Research. What began with 360 students from 148 universities across 50 countries and 6 continents, narrowed down to 11 teams ready to present startup-ready innovations around sustainable food systems. -
Students design agricultural innovations inspired by space technology
- Ten student teams remain out of the forty-four that started the ReThink Food Challenge. Each has developed a startup concept around the theme of space agriculture. But this isn’t escapism: their innovations are meant to contribute to sustainable food production on Earth as well. -
Teams announcement 2025 Food Systems Innovation Challenge
- In the Food System Innovation Challenge, 24 teams from 12 different countries have been selected to implement their innovative solutions in the food system through their project. With mentoring from experts in the field and funding (up to 1000 euro), they are working on their projects starting from April until September 2025, with the Grand Finals on 30 September 2025 on Wageningen Campus. Read more about the teams and their goals for this student challenge below! -
More than a competition: stories from the ReThink Food Challenge
- As the ReThink Food Challenge 2025 edges toward its finals, it's clear that this journey was never just about winning a competition. It was about taking risks, wrestling with uncertainty, and bringing bold visions closer to reality, sometimes in ways the teams never initially imagined. -
Troubled Waters, Beautiful Fixes: How Bloombuoy Took on the Algae Crisis and Won
- The Biodiversity Hackathon has found its standout team—one that turned an urgent ecological threat into a beautiful solution. Bloombuoy rose to the top with their floating insect “houseboats” that double as elegant water purifiers, proving that biodiversity can be both functional and stunning. -
The 20 Boldest Ideas for Growing Food in Space—and on Earth
- After an intense first phase with 44 teams, we’re celebrating the 20 teams moving forward in the ReThink Food Challenge! These teams stood out for their innovative, impactful, and creative solutions that push the boundaries of food production in space and on Earth. Their ideas not only address the constraints of farming in extreme environments but also provide promising solutions for tackling global food security and sustainability challenges. -
“We dare to allocate land for biodiversity” - Interview with Dutch lighthouse farms ERF BV and Hemus
- This week, through an interview with Rosemarie Slobbe, the director of Hemus, we explore the activities of two inspiring Dutch Lighthouse farms, ERF BV and Hemus. These farms are closely connected and actively generating both theoretical and practical knowledge on nature-inclusive farming. They are also promoting the implementation of nature-based solutions to foster the integration of nature and agriculture in the Netherlands. -
From Earth to the Stars: The ReThink Food Challenge Launched in Grand Style
- A student challenge that ignites global innovation to transform food systems for a sustainable future. -
Interview with Brazil's Agroforestry Lighthouse Farm Rizoma Agro on nature-based solutions
- We celebrate the second edition of the Food Systems Innovation Challenge on nature-based solutions through a series of interviews with exemplary and pioneering Lighthouse Farms around the world. Each Lighthouse Farm applies several nature-based solutions and serves as a major source of inspiration for other farmers, placing sustainable food production and the provision of ecosystem services at the very core of their farming activities. -
Youth Food Lab 2024: Driving Innovation in Agrifood Systems at World Food Forum’s Flagship Event
- The second cycle of the Youth Food Lab (YFL) incubator programme culminated during the World Food Forum (WFF) flagship event in October 2024 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy.