Are you passionate about improving health and wellbeing in your community? Do you have ideas that could create sustainable impact in your school, community or beyond?
The Sydney Innovation Challenge invites high school students from across the Middle East, Central Asia and Pakistan to design bold, creative, and practical solutions that support the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good health and wellbeing.
This is your opportunity to address one of the today’s most important global challenges and help build healthier, more resilient communities.
Join us in driving innovation and creating meaningful change in health and wellbeing. Together, we can empower young people to think creatively, solve real challenges, and build a healthier future for all.
Aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, participants will identify a health-related problem and propose an innovative solution that addresses it.
Despite advances in healthcare, many communities continue to face challenges such as limited access to healthcare services, rising mental health concerns, lifestyle-related diseases, and gaps in health awareness and preventive care.
By empowering young people to design innovative, action-oriented solutions, we can strengthen local and global responses to health challenges, improve quality of life, and build healthier communities for future generations.
Your solution can focus on one or more of the following areas:
Application registration opens
Monday 24 August 2026
Briefing session
Monday 14 September 2026, 6 pm (AEST)
Submission deadline
Sunday 25 October 2026, 11:59 pm (AEST)
Virtual Award Ceremony and winner announcement
Week of 16 November 2026 (official day to be announced)
Students need to submit their project information in the format described below:
Criteria for judging
An expert judging panel from the University of Sydney will evaluate entries based on the following criteria.
Announcement of results
If you have any questions, please contact:
Mr. Bader Allabadi for Middle East
Bader.allabadi@sydney.edu.au
Mr. Ali Imran for Central Asia and Pakistan
ali.imran@sydney.edu.au
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Students: Hridayesh Khetan and Aditya Soni
Teacher mentor: Mrs. Parul Talita Singh
Indian School Wadi Kabir, Muscat Oman
HydroMag is a Machine Learning-enhanced water purification system engineered to tackle extreme chemical pollution in some of the world’s most contaminated waterways, including the Ganga and Yamuna in India and the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers in China. In regions where conventional filtration breaks down due to high saturation of toxins, HydroMag delivers a next-generation solution.
HydroMag effectively removes microplastics, heavy metals, emulsified oils, microorganisms, and even persistent “forever chemicals.” It can also be deployed to treat sewage and industrial wastewater at a cost of just USD 0.47 per cubic metre (1,000 litres), making it both scalable and economically viable.
Aligned with UN SDG 13 (Climate Action), HydroMag addresses one of the most pressing climate-driven environmental challenges: global water pollution.
By combining advanced engineering, sustainable technology and AI-driven optimisation, HydroMag offers a powerful, cost-effective pathway toward cleaner ecosystems and climate-resilient communities.
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Student: Defne Ergel
Teacher mentor: Mr. Buayra Åžener
IDV Bilkent High School, Ankara, Türkiye
“The Hidden Rivers of Ankara” is a nature-based urban infrastructure project designed to restore buried waterways and build climate-resilient neighbourhoods in Ankara, Türkiye. In districts such as Çayyolu, rapid urbanisation has covered natural rivers with asphalt, preventing the land from absorbing rainfall and leading to frequent flooding during heavy storms.
The Hidden Rivers of Ankara reimagines waterways by reconnecting them to the surface and integrating permeable, eco-friendly pavement systems throughout the neighbourhood. By replacing traditional impermeable roads with green, water-permeable corridors, the project enables rainfall to flow, filter and disperse naturally, reducing flood risk, easing pressure on drainage systems, and improving groundwater recharge.
Beyond flood prevention, the restored corridors revive local ecosystems, support urban biodiversity, and enhance overall water quality by allowing natural filtration processes to occur. The initiative demonstrates how community-level interventions can transform urban landscapes into healthier, more sustainable environments.
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Student: Chaitanya Jaikishan
Teacher mentor: Mrs. Manjumol Joseph
The Westminster School, Dubai, UAE
HELIOCANOPY is a modular, solar-integrated urban shading system designed to transform extreme heat into clean, renewable energy. In rapidly warming cities, rising temperatures intensify energy demand, strain public infrastructure, and reduce outdoor liveability. HELIOCANOPY tackles this challenge by converting excess sunlight into a powerful climate solution.
Using reflective solar films, graphene thermal spreaders, and sand-based thermal storage, the system captures and redistributes solar energy with high efficiency. While generating electricity, HELIOCANOPY simultaneously cools surrounding areas by up to 7°C, creating comfortable, climate-adaptive microenvironments in public spaces. Its modular form allows seamless deployment across walkways, parking zones, markets, transit stops, and community gathering areas.
Aligned with UN SDG 13 (Climate Action), HELIOCANOPY demonstrates how technology and ecological design can work in harmony, turning cities into cooler, greener, and energy-positive environments.
Students need to submit your project information in the format described above.
To create a video about their project, students could:
Yes, but it should follow the specified guidelines of submission for the competition.