Team Germany reaches TOP 4 at the Enactus World Cup 2024
October 11, 2024
Don't we all? After great events, you feel recharged, full of energy and eager to get back to work. That's how we feel after the Enactus World Cup 2024 (EWC), which took place this year in Astana, Kazakhstan. National champions from each country travelled to Kazakhstan to present their projects.
For us, the World Cup started on 1 October with the iTwin4Good & Action With Africa Challenge Final, organised by Enactus Germany:
Three presenters from Enactus Mannheim competed with their project Greenscape against teams from Brazil, Canada, Great Britain and Ireland in the final of the iTwin4Good Championship. The iTwin4Good Championship is a competition organised by Bentley Systems that gives students access to highly complex soft words that can be used to transform real-life scenarios such as production halls, infrastructure and much more into "digital twins, so-called iTwins. This gives them an early insight into the capabilities of the software and enables them to use its features to launch new entrepreneurial projects.
In the afternoon, the Action With Africa Challenge Final took place: a highlight in itself, as we believe that Enactus projects from Africa deserve special attention. The participating teams from Egypt, Nigeria, Tunisia and Zimbabwe presented innovative solutions to challenges on the African continent. The announcement of the TOP 6 rankings and the honouring of the remaining winners took place two days later at the Action With Africa Awards Ceremony. This year's winner was project Ecoresin (Jospeh Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi) from Nigeria, followed by project Organix (Binsura University of Science Education) in second place and project CANZ (University of Gafsa) from Tunisia in third place.
On Wednesday 2 October, the Enactus World Cup officially kicked off. People from all over the world came together: Students, country representatives, sponsors, entrepreneurs and alumni who follow the development of Enactus. The World Cup is traditionally held in large halls, but Enactus always manages to create a family atmosphere. It is like seeing old friends after a long time.
Each country brought something special to the Cultural Celebration & Fair. This year, Enactus Germany chose goodies and products from our partner Haribo. This year's National Champions, the team from Enactus Karlsruhe with their project DeBaCode, had also produced a and made a video clip, which attracted a lot of attention at the German stand. After all the visitors had drunk coffee from Puerto Rico, tasted sweets from Brazil and tested VR glasses from Korea, the day culminated in an impressive opening ceremony, the Welcome Ceremony. Dancers, inspirational speeches, a retrospective film of last year and the general atmosphere in the room ensured that even if you weren't on stage, you felt a sense of excitement and anticipation. The passion that all the participants had brought with them was palpable.
On Thursday, 3 October, all National Champions presented their Enactus projects in the Opening Round, which consisted of eight groups of up to four teams. The mutual support between the countries was impressive, especially at a time when we hear about global uncertainties on a daily basis. The Enactus World Cup shows that a common, positive goal can strengthen cohesion - even in a competitive environment. The team from Karlsruhe, Germany, beat out Egypt and Ireland to join Mexico in the TOP 16 competition. In the subsequent qualifying draw, Germany were drawn in a group with Brazil, Great Britain and hosts Kazakhstan. Things went very well on the pitch, but patience was required until the TOP 4 were announced on Friday afternoon (4 October).
And their patience was rewarded! DeBaCode actually made it into the TOP 4 and entered the final as 'Team Germany' alongside teams from South Korea, Morocco and 2023 World Cup runners-up Tunisia. As expected, the final was incredibly exciting, and the strong Q&A session between the four presenters from Karlsruhe received a lot of applause.
In the end, Team Germany did not make it into the TOP 2 and we congratulate Enactus Tunisia on winning the Enactus World Cup 2024, followed by Enactus Morocco in second place. The team from Karlsruhe will receive €2,000 in project funding and can be very proud of what they have achieved! Congratulations on reaching the Final Four!
Looking ahead, the energy and inspiration of the 2024 World Cup will fuel the work of Enactus teams around the world as they enter the new Enactus year with renewed vigour. We are incredibly excited about EWC 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. We hope to see you there!