Summer Sprint: Accelerating Impact
Week 1: Define Your Challenge & Empathise Deeply
Catch Up & Recap
In this session, we introduce you to the Enactus Summer Sprint—a 4-week journey designed to help students like you turn ideas into real-world solutions that create positive social and environmental impact.
🌟 This Week’s Objectives:
Clearly define the problem your project aims to address
Understand who is affected and what their lived experiences are
Begin identifying their core needs, not just assumptions
Collect initial evidence through empathy and research
Start completing your Problem Exploration Worksheet
Why Start with the Problem?
Strong, sustainable projects are built on deep understanding. Jumping straight into solutions often leads to wasted time, missed opportunities, or superficial impact.
This week is about slowing down to speed up, so you can ensure your actions are rooted in what really matters.
If you’re working on an existing or inherited project, this is your chance to re-evaluate and validate the problem you’re solving. Try not to focus on your current solution, instead, zoom in on the beneficiaries you’re serving. What are their actual needs today? This can help you uncover new directions or areas of impact.
Albert Einstein famously said:
This week, we take that same approach!
Labre’s Hope — Empowering Homeless Individuals
Problem Identified: People experiencing homelessness struggle to find employment, leading to cycles of poverty.
Solution: Labre’s Hope creates sustainable employment opportunities by training and hiring individuals experiencing homelessness to make eco-friendly, handmade cosmetics.
Get Inspired - Social Enterprises that started with a problem
Street Angels — Keeping Streets Safe
Problem Identified: People were vulnerable to harm in nightlife settings due to intoxication, unsafe environments, and lack of public transport late at night.
Solution: Street Angels deploy trained volunteers in city centres to offer assistance, first aid, and support, reducing harm and crime.
If you’re struggling to decide what to focus on, here are three ways to find your problem:
Think about your own experiences!
Have you or someone you know faced a challenge or barrier in life?
Is there something that frustrates you about your community or the world?
What do you wish was easier or better?
Look at the world around you!
What social or environmental issues do you care about?
Are there global problems affecting your local area?
What’s happening in the news that you feel strongly about?
Example: Climate change is a global issue, but you might focus on plastic waste in your local area.
Use the SDGs or other social enterprises for inspiration!
Use our Inspire Action resource to help you get started!
Why is it important to understand the root causes?
Solving a problem without addressing its root cause only treats the symptoms, leading to a temporary fix that likely won't prevent the issue from recurring. This can waste time and resources while leaving the underlying problem unresolved.
Example: Textile Waste (Enactus Australia)
Many interventions focus on recycling clothing waste by repurposing it into new products. However, this does not eliminate the issue, as textiles eventually reach the end of their lifecycle and still end up in landfills. Enactus Australia tackled this issue by developing CPlast, an innovative solution that transforms cotton and cotton-blended polyester textiles into biodegradable plastic. This approach ensures that textiles do not simply get reused temporarily, but are instead completely reprocessed into a sustainable material that does not contribute to landfill waste. This project was developed by university students, and demonstrates that innovative solutions can emerge from those who take the time to understand the root cause of a problem.
General vs. Specific – Why Focusing Matters
It's tempting to say, "I want to help everyone." But impactful solutions come from being specific. Why?
Every group has different needs.
Targeting a specific audience first allows for greater impact and more tailored solutions.
Examples:
1. Homelessness
Did you know there are 4 types of homelessness? Someone temporarily couch-surfing will have very different needs compared to someone experiencing chronic rough sleeping.
2. Students
Saying "I want to help students" is broad—there are 2.9 million students in the UK with different backgrounds, financial situations, and support needs.
3. Circumstantial Needs
Not every issue is defined by demographics—some problems are about circumstances (e.g., access to education for refugees, young carers, etc.).
TOP TIP: Think Literally! Understanding the lived experience of those affected by a problem is crucial for designing effective solutions.
Empathy Mapping: Getting Inside the Mind of Your Target Group
Example Empathy Map using someone who lives on the streets.
What Do They SEE?
• Busy streets, passerby often ignoring them or averting their gaze, shops with “No Loitering” signs.
• People hurrying, occasionally someone stops to offer spare change or give food.What Do They SAY?
”I just need a safe space to sleep tonight”
”People treat me like I’m invisible.”
”It’s hard to get back on my feet when I have no support.”What Do They DO?
• Search for safe sleeping spots or line up at shelters.
• Spend time asking for spare change to buy essentials.
• Move frequently if police or security enforce “no sleeping” zones.What Do They HEAR?
• Stigimatising comments like “Get a job” or “Stop begging”.
• Occasional offers of help from charity volunteers: “There’s a soup kitchen on Main Street at 6 PM.”
• Rumors about certain shelters being safer.What Do They THINK & FEEL?
Pains:
• Fear & Frustraition: Worried about safety and theft, feeling unseen or dehumanised, anxiety over not being able to secure stable housing, employment, food or warmth.
• Shame & Hopelessness: Might feel guilty asking for help; constant fear of never escaping the cycle of homelessness.Gains:
• Wants & Needs: Access to safe shelter, steady job opportunities, mental health support, and a sense of dignity.
• Hopes & Dreams: Regaining independence, stable housing, reconnection with family or friends, and a future free from the threat of homelessness.
• Motivation: A desire to be self-sufficient, respected, and seen as more than “just homeless”.
Needs Mapping: Priortising Solutions for Lasting Impact
Using a person-centered design, we identify the different layers of needs for our target beneficaries.
Example:
Identify key needs of your target beneficaries.
Rank them using a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) status to prioritise urgency.
Consider Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—do they need basic support (e.g., food & shelter) before self-improvement opportunities?
Key Takeaway:
The best projects address multiple needs to create a complete, long-term solution. You don’t have to tackle everything at once, but acknowledging all the needs will help you build a stronger intervention.
Creating Your Problem Statement
A good problem statement is specific, clear, and focused on the real issue. Use the below skeleton to help!
I am...
(A narrow description of the beneficiary - not you! that highlights their motivation, attributes, and characteristics)
I am trying to...
(desired outcome)
But...
(Problem or barrier)
Because...
(Root cause)
Which makes me feel...
(emotion)
EXAMPLE:
I AM a parent living in a deprived area in the UK, my house is old and I am struggling to heat my home. I AM TRYING TO heat my home and afford to pay energy & gas bills. BUT due to my home not being well insulated, I can’t keep my home warm even with heaters turned on BECAUSE I don’t know what needs repairing and I also cannot afford these repairs, WHICH MAKES ME FEEL like I can’t provide a warm and safe environment for my family.
