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Clocktower.Wednesday 1 November 2017 11:04am

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George Coslett and Lucy Patterson from the University of Otago.

George Coslett and Lucy Patterson from the University of Otago Business School have been selected to travel to India as part of the Education New Zealand's NZ - India Sustainability Challenge (NZISC).

NZISC brings Indian and New Zealand university students together to solve pressing environmental and sustainability challenges, and raise awareness of education and research in areas such as conservation, ecology, environmental science, and sustainable energy.

The two Otago students, along with four others from Waikato and Canterbury Universities will join six teams of students from India, selected earlier in the year.

The Indian students will have an opportunity to work alongside their New Zealand counterparts to develop scalable, sustainable solutions to problems facing the environment and society.

It's hoped their solutions will also inspire the next generation of young leaders to identify problems around their campuses and communities, by designing appropriate solutions through the use of innovative sustainable practices.

Each of the six will initially work on their assigned projects remotely, then join their Indian team mates for two weeks (funded by ENZ) from November 25 until the final presentations and judging on December 7.

George Coslett, who is in his fifth year of Marketing Management, said the chance to travel to India is an extremely exciting prospect.

His environmental education project is “AlphaQ”, a gaming app to educate children on sustainability lifestyle. He will be working with two engineering students at Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering in Sri Perambudur in Chennai.

“When I saw the final six projects I was extremely impressed at both the creativity and quality of the proposals. I can't wait to help my teammates to try and develop a product which will help combat the current problems we face with global consumption – I'm looking forward to giving both commercial and sustainability perspective to this project.”

Lucy Patterson has just completed her honours in Marketing Management. Her interest in sustainability began as a child, but she never thought her passion for the environment would take her to India.

Her sustainable consumption project “Green Computing”, is creating a software system where computer networks can put terminals to sleep when they are not in use. The two students she is working alongside are both pursuing their Bachelor of Engineering in Information Technology at Vidyalankar Institute of Technology.

She is hoping her management background and interest in emerging technology will help. “I am incredibly grateful for the chance to engage with students of a different country to see how they are tackling climate change with their sustainability innovations.”

Education New Zealand's Regional Director – India, South East Asia and Middle East, John Laxon said Indian students are increasingly choosing to study in New Zealand. “Our education system provides global and fulfilling career opportunities, as well as a progressive learning experience. New Zealand's universities are leading innovations in our societies and demonstrating sustainable principles across their campuses.

“We are delighted to partner with our New Zealand universities and TERI to find solutions for challenges like climate change, energy and food security, sanitation and water quality.”

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