Themes:
Resource Type:
About The Resource
How can innovation help cities grow in ways that are more sustainable, liveable, and inclusive?
In the Metropolia Global Leaders Challenge Pack, students are introduced to a fictional rapidly growing city in Brazil facing major urban development challenges linked to housing shortages, carbon emissions and limited green spaces. Working as community leaders, students are challenged to design practical and forward-thinking solutions that improve quality of life while supporting long-term sustainability.
Throughout the challenge, students step into the role of key stakeholders including an urban planner, environmental scientist, architect and city mayor. Each role encourages students to think from a different perspective as they explore how decisions around infrastructure, public spaces and environmental planning affect both communities and ecosystems.
Across three challenge areas, students investigate how housing can be made more accessible, how pollution and carbon emissions can be reduced and how cities can better integrate green spaces for healthier living. Real-world case studies and examples are included throughout the pack to help students explore how global cities are responding to similar challenges and how innovation can be applied in practical ways.
Designed as a flexible challenge-based learning experience, this pack helps students strengthen innovation skills, critical thinking, collaboration and global citizenship. Students work towards developing a final pitch that clearly communicates their ideas and demonstrates how their solutions could be implemented in a real-world context.
This challenge pack is part of the Global Leaders Challenge Pack suite, which also includes Equalityville and Aquatopia. Many schools choose to offer one scenario to an entire class, while others use all three packs to provide different challenge contexts for student groups.
Age Group
High School Students
Learning Time
6-8 hours of working time, depending on delivery style, level of research and depth of student pitch development.
Student Output
Students develop a sustainable city proposal for Metropolia that addresses housing shortages, carbon emissions and green space design, before presenting their ideas in a 3-5 minute pitch supported by visual materials.
Delivery Format
1 x 12 page downloadable PDF document. This can be used digitally or printed.
Curriculum Alignment
This resource features strong links with the following curriculum areas:
Find Out More
Browse the tabs below to find out more about this resource:
What's Included
Upon purchasing this challenge pack you will receive a link to download the 12 page workbook as a digital PDF file. You can either complete the pack digitally, or print it and complete it with pen and paper.
The activities in this challenge pack include:
Challenge Introduction: An overview of the Global Leaders challenge and the role of community leadership
Scenario Brief: Introduction to Metropolia and the sustainability challenges facing the city
Stakeholder Roles: Four stakeholder perspectives students can adopt when designing solutions
Stakeholder Persona Activity: Students define needs, wants and frustrations of their chosen stakeholder
Challenge 1 – Housing Shortages: Designing more sustainable housing solutions
Challenge 2 – Carbon Emissions & Pollution: Reducing environmental impact through innovation
Challenge 3 – Lack Of Green Spaces: Creating healthier and more liveable public spaces
Case Study Links: Real world examples connected to each challenge area
Pitch Page: A structured guide to preparing a final pitch
Contact Our Team
If you have any questions about this resource, would like advice on which challenge pack or teaching resource may work best for your students, or need to purchase via invoice, our team would be delighted to assist. Simply complete the form below and a member of the BOP Industries team will be in touch shortly.