Phoenix’ Nest Winners

On Friday, 1 March, eight teams of Grade 8s took to the stage in a packed theatre in an attempt to gain investment for new student-initiated social enterprises at UNIS. A jury of critical experts listened to their pitches, inspected their financial numbers and asked some serious questions. This event was the culmination of an MYP Design Unit called ‘Phoenix Nest‘. The goal of the unit was to apply the design cycle to the development of a sustainable business that works towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The jury consisted of Ms Khalidi, Resident Coordinator of the UNDP in Vietnam, Mr Daltry, Member of the SCO, Mr Sjostedt, former member of both the Swedish and European Parliaments and Ms McGee, our UNIS head of School. In the audience was all of Middle School. The eight teams pitching their plans were what remained of 25 teams that participated in preliminary rounds. The students did amazingly and under great pressure. A real example of UNIS Hanoi living its mission to empower students to create positive, sustainable impact.

The winners of full investment for the start-up of their enterprise – courtesy of the UNIS Impact Fund – were the PlanT team. PlanT developed a super creative upcycled paper that ‘grows’. You will be able to buy their seed-infused paper products soon!