CItEE – empowering change
Transforming challenges into opportunities
In a challenging world, the University of St Andrews Creating Impact through Enterprise Education (CItEE) programme encourages innovation by transforming student ideas into impactful projects through collaboration and bespoke events.
CItEE drives change through educational revamps, developing external partnerships, entrepreneurial skill development, and cross-disciplinary activities. The essence of CItEE lies in addressing identified needs with innovative and workable solutions.
Unveiling Scotland’s Big Challenges
CItEE was heralded by our ‘Scotland’s Big Challenges Competition’ where students were invited to identify pressing needs in Scotland that we could solve in collaboration with external stakeholders.
The diverse issues raised through the competition encompassed climate change, Scotland’s brain drain, and personal struggles such as supporting older individuals and victims of domestic abuse. The project was jointly funded by Scotland’s Future Series and the Director of Eden Campus, Geoff Morris.
“CItEE has allowed me to speak openly about an issue that means ever so much to me. The team guided me… to create the maximum impact possible. It is truly refreshing and encouraging to know that students’ passions can be shared with a wider network.” – participating student
Three stages of transformation
Co-Initiation: Sparking Ingenuity
The journey began with Co-Initiation, where students collaborated with diverse internal stakeholders to generate potential solutions to identified challenges. Stakeholders from across the University including Research and Innovation Services, Careers, and Schools from all Faculties participated, setting the stage for later progress and external collaboration.
Co-Creation: Nurturing Ideas for Impact
Co-Creation delved deeper into challenges fostering interdisciplinary collaboration with internal and external experts from St Leonards School, Police Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit, the NHS, and Scottish Care as well as colleagues from the Global Office, Careers, Student Services, the Chaplaincy, and the Centre for Educational Enhancement and Development (CEED). Students refined their proposals, exploring opportunities for change within the University context. This stage highlighted the strength of collaborative thinking and diverse perspectives in idea generation.
Co-Evolution: Propelling Change Forward
At the Co-Evolution event, students presented evolved proposals to key University members, addressing issues such as domestic abuse, mental health awareness, ‘Comics for Change’, and ‘Engage’. These projects aimed to create positive societal impact, emphasizing the importance of community collaboration in driving change.
The path forward
CItEE’s success relies on collective efforts, showcasing the transformative power of innovation. We invite ongoing collaboration and support for sustained impact. To contribute or join the journey, visit the CItEE website and contact us at citee@st-andrews.ac.uk.
“CItEE has presented a brilliant opportunity to help build upon the research my partner and I have developed. It is mission driven and the coordinators have supplied support for our creations and ideas.” – participating student
The CltEE team is led by Gosia Mitka from the School of Management; Gayle Doherty from the School of Psychology and Neuroscience; Kenneth Boyd and Kirsty Ross, both from the School of Computer Science; and International Relations and Psychology Degree student intern Hitanshi Badani.