Designing Change Together: Melton Foundation LATAM at the Heart of APRU Global Ideathon 2025

This July, Santiago de Chile became the creative epicenter for 84 undergraduate students from 13 countries across the Pacific Rim, who came together for a 13-hour Ideathon marathon. The event, co-organized by the Melton Foundation LATAM Hub as part of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Undergraduate Leaders’ Program 2025, was more than an innovation challenge, it was a powerful experiment in global citizenship, systems thinking, and intercultural collaboration.

Facilitated by experienced Senior Melton Fellows from India and Chile, the Ideathon created a space where creativity met complexity, and where young leaders worked collectively to design solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing the Pacific Rim.

Practicing Global Citizenship in Action

One of the most transformative aspects of the Ideathon was its shift from talking about global citizenship in theory to practicing it in real time. What might often remain an abstract concept in classrooms or seminars came alive in Santiago as students were asked not just to think about global interconnectedness but to experience and embody it.

With teams made up of students from 13 countries across the Pacific Rim, collaboration was anything but straightforward. It demanded more than a common working language, it required active listening, cultural sensitivity, humility, and a willingness to embrace difference.

As participants began brainstorming, they encountered the realities of working across cultural and national boundaries. Some were used to direct, fast-paced discussions, while others valued reflective pauses before speaking. Leadership was interpreted differently: in some cultures it meant stepping forward with confidence, while in others it meant quietly ensuring harmony and inclusion. Even humor, body language, and decision-making styles varied significantly.

These differences could easily have become barriers, but instead they became invaluable learning moments. Students had to slow down, clarify intentions, and learn to ask rather than assume. Misunderstandings often sparked reflection, prompting participants to confront unconscious biases and rethink ingrained ways of working.

Through this process, they learned that practicing global citizenship is not about glossing over differences or reaching consensus quickly. Instead, it is about building the capacity to stay in dialogue, to hold multiple perspectives, and to embrace constructive disagreement as a source of growth rather than conflict.

This reframing of agency from isolated actors to interdependent co-creators became one of the most enduring lessons of the Ideathon. Students left with a deeper understanding that global citizenship is less about a label and more about a daily practice of accountability, empathy, and shared responsibility across borders.

Engaging with Complexity, Not Simplifying It

Unlike many short-format innovation events that aim for simplified “quick wins,” the Santiago Ideathon intentionally embraced complexity. Participants were not asked to generate surface-level solutions, but rather invited to wrestle with the interconnected challenges of our time.

Over 13 hours, teams worked on seven Pacific Rim Challenges: Artificial Intelligence, Global Health, Multi-Hazards (natural disasters, climate risks, and resilience), Sustainable Waste Management, Biodiversity and Sustainability, Food Security and Agritech, and Sustainable Cities and Landscapes.

Each of these issues is vast on its own, but what made the Ideathon transformative was recognizing how deeply interwoven they are with one another. For example, food security cannot be addressed without considering biodiversity loss and climate hazards; urban sustainability intersects with waste management and health; artificial intelligence raises questions about power, equity, and inclusion across all domains. This approach reflects findings from systems thinking research, which shows that tackling sustainability challenges requires understanding the interdependencies among ecological, economic, and social systems (Meadows, 2008).

Facilitators encouraged students not to rush toward solutions, but to zoom out and question the bigger picture: Who holds the power to act and decide in these systems? What historical and structural conditions created these problems? How do these issues manifest differently across geographies, such as the Philippines versus Peru, or Chile versus China? This mirrors the “wicked problems” framing in sustainability science, where complexity and uncertainty demand long-term, adaptive approaches rather than quick technical fixes (Rittel & Webber, 1973).

Instead of being overwhelmed, participants found this exploration illuminating. It gave them tools to see beyond the symptoms of problems and look at their root causes, such as colonial legacies, economic inequality, political decision-making, and cultural contexts. By slowing down and refusing to oversimplify, students began to think in systems rather than silos. Their proposals reflected this shift: instead of quick fixes, they explored interconnected, cross-sectoral approaches that acknowledged trade-offs, limitations, and long-term implications.

This mindset shift, resisting the lure of easy answers and leaning into complexity, was one of the most powerful outcomes of the Ideathon. It prepared participants not only to design solutions grounded in reality and relevance, but also to become leaders capable of navigating the tangled challenges of the 21st century. In fact, global education research emphasizes that cultivating “complex systems literacy” is essential to prepare young leaders to address sustainability challenges in a holistic way (UNESCO, 2017).

Empathy as a Method, Not Just a Value

A core part of the process was dedicated to reframing empathy, not as sentimentality, but as a rigorous design methodology.

Through empathy mapping and stakeholder analysis, teams identified the people most affected by the challenges they were working on. These exercises surfaced blind spots and prompted critical questions:

• Whose voice is missing?

• What assumptions are we making?

By slowing down to reconsider perspectives, participants shifted from designing for communities to designing with and alongside them. This subtle yet powerful reframing transformed their understanding of empathy and justice, leaving a lasting imprint on how they approached innovation.

Frameworks That Anchored Creativity

While the Ideathon celebrated open-ended creativity, facilitators recognized the importance of providing scaffolds to guide and channel innovation. To strike this balance, participants were introduced to two powerful methodologies that shaped their process and outcomes:

Six Thinking Hats

Early in the Ideathon, teams applied Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats to approach problems from multiple perspectives.

• The White Hat pushed them to focus on facts, data, and evidence.

• The Red Hat surfaced feelings, instincts, and emotional responses to the challenges.

• The Black Hat encouraged critical caution, questioning risks and pitfalls.

• The Yellow Hat highlighted optimism, potential, and opportunities.

• The Green Hat unlocked creativity and “out of the box” thinking.

• The Blue Hat maintained structure and kept the group on track.

By deliberately switching perspectives, students avoided falling into groupthink or relying only on their comfort zones. It allowed every voice rational, intuitive, critical, and creative, to find its place in the dialogue.

The NABC Framework

Later in the process, teams moved from broad ideation to structured design using the NABC Framework (Need, Approach, Benefits, Competition).

• They began by identifying the Need: Who is most affected by this issue? What urgent gap must be addressed?

• Next, they clarified their Approach: What innovative method, technology, or system could respond to this need?

• They articulated the Benefits: Why does this solution matter? How does it create real-world value for people and communities?

• Finally, they considered Competition: What similar solutions already exist, and how does their idea build on or differ from them?

This progression moved teams from loosely defined concepts to coherent, impact-oriented proposals. It also forced them to think about implementation pathways, scalability, and sustainability, elements often missing in short innovation exercises.

Anchoring Creativity in Purpose

Together, these frameworks provided more than structure; they offered discipline for imagination. The Six Thinking Hats helped expand the range of perspectives, while the NABC Framework helped sharpen and focus those ideas into something actionable.

The combination encouraged participants to not only dream big, but also articulate their vision with clarity, alignment, and purpose. As a result, their proposals reflected both creativity and critical rigor a balance essential for real-world change.

Designing for Impact: Led by Melton Foundation LATAM

Hub Coordinator Victor and Senior Melton Fellow Pablo

The Ideathon was designed and facilitated by the Melton Foundation LATAM Hub, led by Hub Coordinator Victor Valenzuela with strong support from Senior Fellow Pablo Carrillo Pradenas.

A team of dedicated Senior Melton Fellows including Siddhart Yedur (India), Karla Palma (Chile), Karen Veloso (Chile) guided participants through each stage. Drawing on their expertise in education, community development, and global leadership, they challenged assumptions, enriched discussions, and ensured a rigorous yet inclusive process.

Final presentations were reviewed by a distinguished jury Nicholas Coutts, Eric Odonkor, Beatriz Rahmer, and Kameljeet Kaur, who provided insightful feedback on feasibility, sustainability, and impact.

Together, facilitators and jury members embodied the Melton Foundation’s commitment to intercultural collaboration and transformative learning.

Partners & Special Acknowledgments

This groundbreaking collaboration would not have been possible without the strong partnerships that supported it.

Carlos at the Ideathon.

Special recognition goes to Carlos Rilling Tenorio, Senior Melton Fellow and Executive Director of the Office of the President at the University of Chile. Carlos played a monumental role in forging the partnership between the University of Chile, APRU, and the Melton Foundation LATAM Hub. His vision and leadership ensured that the Ideathon became not just a moment of creativity, but a bridge connecting institutions, students, and communities across the Pacific Rim.

We are deeply grateful to our partners and supporters, whose collaboration and trust allowed the Melton Foundation LATAM Hub to co-create this meaningful experience:

• University of Chile: As one of Latin America’s leading institutions, the University of Chile brought academic excellence and a commitment to social responsibility. Their role in convening students and providing an inclusive platform made the Ideathon both impactful and accessible.

• APRU (Association of Pacific Rim Universities): By connecting a global network of top universities, APRU infused the event with international perspectives and expertise. Their support emphasized the importance of cross-border collaboration in addressing complex global challenges.

• Sense Innovation Management Services: With their deep experience in innovation methodologies and design thinking, Sense IMS guided participants through structured yet creative processes. Their facilitation ensured that ideas moved beyond inspiration toward actionable and sustainable solutions.

Together, these partners created the foundation for an Ideathon that not only sparked creativity but also rooted it in purpose, collaboration, and long-term impact.

A Shared Commitment to the Future

As Senior Fellow Pablo Carrillo Pradenas reflected: