Superhero competition to solve local issues kicks off

AMMAN — A national competition aimed at tackling governorates’ local challenges kicked off on Sunday, under the “Invent your Superhero” motto.

Organised by the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), the Princess Basma Youth Resource Centre (PBYRC), and the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD) with the support of the EU in Jordan, the competition involves 60 youth spread across five governorates, according to Tala Al Sayyed, EUNIC communication and events officer.

“It is important to ensure the youth is given support when they identify issues in their society and to give them the tools to work out solutions to address them. At the same time, we also wanted to ensure they are given the creative space to express their ideas and have fun,” EUNIC project manager, Gaelle Sundelin, told The Jordan Times.

Teams of 10 youth between 12 and 16 years old supported by two supervisors between the ages of 18 and 22 years old will be attending workshops and brainstorming sessions in the five PBYRC Innovation Labs, Sayyed explained, noting that the youth selected were already enrolled in the programmes of the centres.

“In line with the vision of the Innovation Labs, the youth will be provided with all the resources necessary to develop their project, as well as a complete freedom to invent the superhero of their choice,” Sayyed told The Jordan Times on the day of the launch, noting that the superhero can be designed as digital, drawing, or any other format.

Innovation Labs are spaces established by JOHUD to foster youth creativity and provide them with a space to develop their artistic skills, the JOHUD website said. 

“Inside the labs, adolescents and youth are partners rather than beneficiaries, where they own and lead the design and implementation of their innovations. Girls and boys acquire the capacity to develop, grow and implement their own initiatives and projects, with the aim of building their capacity and triggering the replication of this type of interventions in other communities,” the website read.

Divided among five governorates, the competition covers a variety of local challenges, including the lack of safe spaces and activity parks for children in Maan, the excess use of paper at school and waste management in general in Amman, the lack of use of solar power and green energy in general in Alkafreen, gender equality and women’s representation in their society in Irbid Governorate, in addition to ways to recycle and dispose of excess items and clothes in Madaba, according to Sayyed. 

“We asked each lab to survey their youth to come up with a list of the most pressing issues to address in their area,” Sayyed stressed, adding that it helped the organisers in selecting speakers from European countries or companies, who will come to brief the contestants on specific topics.

“For instance, we have an expert from a German company who will provide insight into the German experience on green energy in Alkafreen, while a Swedish expert will speak to the Irbid youth about Sweden’s experience with gender equality,” she continued, highlighting the input such professionals will bring to the youth’s creative projects. 

The competition will conclude on Thursday, with the distribution of prizes sponsored by the Jordanian brand JoBedu, which recently partnered with entertainment giant DC Comics, creator of world famous superheroes such as Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes.

“Jordanians are very proud of their brand JoBedu and as they landed a contract with DC Comics, we thought it would be great to partner with them as they would be a great source of inspiration and pride for the youth,” Sundelin concluded.