In a year that has been marked with the lingering effects of coronavirus, it is no wonder that healthcare and wellbeing were central themes in the Global Grad Show, with a third of the 150 shortlisted projects addressing the two areas.
This reflects the impact that the pandemic has had on the graduate students and is an increase from the number of projects that covered healthcare in the show’s previous edition, said Tadeu Baldani, director of Global Grad Show, an initiative by Art Dubai, which took place as part of Dubai Design Week earlier this month.
“The global pandemic has heightened our experience with healthcare and mental health. They have become unescapable topics in discussions about economic and social recovery, workforce productivity and healthier communities,” said Baldani.
“With Global Grad Show being a window into the collective concerns of graduates, it demonstrates how these trends have echoed with bright young minds around the world; and how they are working to develop health-related solutions inside campus. Of the 150 projects shortlisted, one third were healthcare-related ideas, of which ten focused on managing Covid-19 and five focused specifically on mental health and wellbeing,” he added.
This year’s edition of the Global Grad Show received applications from graduates from 464 universities, a 70 percent increase from last year, from 70 countries around the world.
Talking about her project, The Reach, which provides a rest house for drivers, a common area to gather, and a small workshop as an “outlet to their creativity”, graduate student at American University in Dubai Joelle Kassapoglou said: “The Global Grad Show provided me with a platform to raise awareness around the mental wellness of motorcycle delivery drivers.”
“Most of these drivers are away from their families which takes a toll on their mental health and they work in harsh conditions under the heat, especially in the summer, so I wanted to focus on their mental wellbeing and deal with their trauma,” she continued.
Another project, Kalima Charity, by Diana Odeh, a student at University of Sharjah, uses virtual reality therapy to help people overcome social phobia and was born out of her personal experience with that.
Virtual reality therapy allows people to simulate anxiety-triggering social experiences out of the safety of a therapist’s office, explained Odeh.
“By putting a spotlight on these ideas, as well as offering these graduates access to our Entrepreneurship Programme, we hope to accelerate the creation of solutions for communities around the world. Access to training, partnerships and funding can unlock the extraordinary potential of many of these ideas, ultimately creating a better future for us all,” said Baldani.
Now in its seventh edition, Global Grad Show is a programme for international academic talent, bringing their innovations to a worldwide audiences and supporting their development towards real-world implementation.
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