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THE
IMPOSSIBLE LEBANON
CHALLENGE
We are entering the implementation phase of projects developed over the summer 2020. We have picked the site Collège Saint Grégoire in Beirut to implement various elements of sustainable energy designs to not only enhance the school's energy efficiency, but also to rebuild after the devastating port explosion that destroyed much of the beloved campus.
Challenge Overview
We are currently focused on two main designs:
Composting Garden
This will serve as a living lab to the students and help utilize organic waste to create usable soil to nurture new plants that can serve the community in various ways
Solar Ivy
This is a solar panel technology that utilizes vertical spaces with its photovoltaic cells to produce clean energy for the school
These two elements will not only serve the community in a physical capacity, but these two projects will be assimilated into the school's curriculum so the students can enhance their knowledge of sustainable energy, the environment, and how nature can provide solutions to our problems. In this way our mission, "Innovation Education through Biomimicry", will be carried out in a way that rebuilds a place destroyed by the tragic explosion in August 2020.
Hear From The Students
From the 11 finalists in the program over the summer, 4 students decided to continue their journey with Born Global this fall and enter the implementation phase of the Impossible Lebanon Project. Maria Hekimian, Jason Kourieh, Ghassan Abboud, and Moustafa Hammoud are glowing representations of Born Global- they have exemplified, leadership, initiative, passion, determination, and creativity throughout the process and have devoted themselves to implementing their individual projects in Beirut, Lebanon. Not only are they working to see their visions of innovation, science, and biomimicry come to fruition, they are working to raise funds to rebuild their school, Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour, which was destroyed in the tragic explosion this past August. Their individual ideas that they developed over the summer through the methodology of biomimicry, will be implemented into the reconstruction plan for the campus Collège Saint Grégoire.
Ghassan Abboud
I’m Ghassan, a junior at College Notre Dame de Jamhour. I am fascinated by the living world since a young age, I discovered my passion for scientific research while studying Darwin’s theory of evolution in high school. I am now aiming to pursue a biology major. Through my penchant for leadership and the sharpening of my analytical skills, I hope I can one day become an accomplished scientist who will, through his studies, help not only improve the standard of living for everybody but also broaden the scope of human knowledge and underline the connections between different scientific fields. Working with the Born Global Institute and winning. The Impossible Lebanon Challenge allowed me to do just that, by learning how a multi-disciplinary approach to design inspired by Nature can help solve Lebanon’s crises.
Beirut has been suffering; the culture rich city has been the victim of too many tragedies and government shortcomings resulting in immense human suffering. The people of Lebanon deserve more. Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour has been a beacon of hope in its academic excellence and cornerstone of higher knowledge; it produces stellar students that have shaped the world we live in today.