Dr. Alon Eisenstein with the winning team at 2026 UBCO Map the System Campus Finals.
Students, mentors, faculty and community members recently gathered at UBC Okanagan for the inaugural UBCO Map the System competition, a day focused on systems thinking, sustainability and exploring some of the world’s most complex challenges.
Hosted through the School of Engineering’s Technology Entrepreneurship program, the event invited interdisciplinary student teams to investigate deeply rooted social, environmental and economic issues—not by proposing quick fixes, but by examining the interconnected systems, relationships and structures that shape them.
The event is the culmination of several months of work, starting back in January, as students spent time and effort digging deeper into topics of their interest. The teams applied system thinking to research and generate system maps that capture what they have learned about the problems they studied, in addition to a 3000-word essay.
During the UBCO Map the System competition, each team delivered a 10-minute presentation in front of a panel of judges and the audience. The essays were scored by the judges in advance, while the presentations were scored during the event, producing the results of the competition.
Event Photos
Competition Results
1st Place – $500 cash prize and the opportunity to represent UBCO at the global Map the System competition at the University of Oxford this July
“Floods and Droughts Beyond Climate: Ecological Degradation, Extractive Economies, and Government Failures in Sumatra, Indonesia” by Alqeshira Feyza (Engineering), Aliyah Dafika (Data Science), Adzra Salma (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics), and Jasper Chiu (Engineering).
“We examined the recurring flood-drought crisis in Sumatra, Indonesia, asking why Sumatra faces severe floods in the rainy season and prolonged droughts in the dry season. Rather than treating this as a purely climate-driven problem, we used a systems-thinking approach to map the deeper social, political, economic, and ecological drivers behind it. Our research combined causal loop diagrams, stakeholder mapping, and the iceberg model with semi-structured interviews and secondary research from academic, NGO, and policy sources. Our key finding is that Sumatra’s crisis is rooted in a socio-ecological system shaped by extractive land use, global commodity demand, weak governance, and the normalization of disaster risk. We also found that many current responses remain reactive, addressing disaster impacts rather than the upstream drivers such as deforestation, peatland degradation, and concession-based land management.”
2nd Place – $300 cash prize
“The Cost of Convenience: Barriers to Campus Waste Diversion & Management in Kelowna, BC, Canada” by Amanda Bolton (Sustainability), and Laisa Peret (Sustainability).
“This report examines the key and self-perpetuating components of the recycling and waste management problem on the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus, which extends past the walls of our campus and points to a larger global issue. We uncovered how environmental sustainability challenges are driven less by a lack of solutions and more by human behavior, perception, and systemic complexity. We investigate recycling contamination, high levels of single-use waste driven by a convenience culture, and the communication gap between administration and university students. Through this analysis, the report situates local issues within broader patterns to identify key leverage points and advance to a more sustainable and equitable waste management system.”
3rd Place – $200 cash prize
“Industrial timber harvesting and the loss of primary forests in British Columbia” by Jasmeen Pandher (Engineering), and Cherry Huang (Engineering).
“We explored the forest management system in British Columbia and how it affects primary forests, the economy and the public. We used secondary resources to conduct our research and found that a shift in mental models is necessary to prevent further ecological deterioration.”
Impactful learning and collaboration
In addition to the student teams’ presentations, the event also featured a keynote and interactive LEGO® Serious Play® workshop led by Dr. Nadine Ibrahim, an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, and the Turkstra Chair in Urban Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Ibrahim is also a certified LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator and trainer.
“The UBCO Map the System Programme is more than a competition,” says event organizer Dr. Alon Eisenstein. “It was about building a community of students who chose to engage meaningfully and deeply with complex issues they care about, learn with and from one another, and having the courage to ask difficult questions. I’m incredibly proud of all our student participants, and so grateful for the mentors and supporters who helped make this inaugural program such a thoughtful and collaborative experience. Thank you and congratulations to everyone who joined us and made the event possible.”
Judges’ reactions
“The UBCO Map the System event was a truly delightful experience – I left feeling inspired and energized by the student presentations. The opportunity to engage with other attendees allowed for meaningful conversation and connections” – Antonia De Boer, Executive Director of Niteo Africa Society
“The event was inspirational; both to see the passion that student teams brought to the topic, and to create curiosity and reflection on addressing complexity and approaches to solving both global and local challenges.” – Stephanie Gnissios, Co-founder & COO of Climate Risk Services
About Map the System
Map the System is a global program created by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, with partner institutions around the world hosting local competitions, offering participants the experience of applying systems thinking principles to dive deep into a social or environmental topic they are passionate about.
To learn more about UBCO Map the System, visit UBCO Map the System.