Enactus UK & Ireland at the IEEC 2026! Celebrating 20 Years of the IEEC
With students locking back in for the academic year, we’re sharing all about our few days at the 20th IEEC conference at the Nottingham Business School! This year’s theme, Beyond Boundaries, the conference explored how can we make enterprise education more inclusive, innovative and equipped to keep pace with the technological landscape. This was our fourth year attending the IEEC Conference, and it was truly special to share the room with educators, students and organisations all looking to share ideas and create a more inclusive future for enterprise education.
IEEC Social Impact Sandpit 2026
This time around, we brought our Social Impact Sandpit to the conference! With 16 students from 8 universities across the UK, our aim was to bring together students from different subject areas to use their unique skills, experiences and perspectives to tackle real-world social challenges. By encouraging students to collaborate we created a space with different perspectives sparking new ideas, and showing the power of interdisciplinary collaboration. Thankfully, no actual sand was used!
Engaging students through our Social Impact Sandpit was a great way to introduce new students to Enactus and warm them up for what’s to come in the year. We were excited to run this session for our 4th year at the IEEC, and our impact was evident in the students, with all of them saying that the session contributed to their personal development.
“I really enjoyed Enactus' social sandpit. I had no clue what I was getting myself into but thought it worthwhile to put myself out there and Im grateful that I did. Not only was I challenged to find probable and sustainable solutions but I was given an opportunity and encouraged to creatively express said solutions in our discussions. Overall it was a really good first experience and hope to do more of their workshops in the future ”
“My highlight was pitching my ideas and receiving constructive criticism on what should be considered and improved. This allowed me to exercise critical thinking and resilience by exploring potential alternatives to address the problem.”
We topped off the week with an evening at the National Enterprise Educator Awards gala dinner, where we were proud to sponsor the Enterprise for Good award for the fourth time. This year, we presented the award to the Pathway to Enterprise for Good at Durham University, represented by Rachel Bickerdike- congratulations!
Being part of the IEEC Conference this year was particularly special as we celebrated two decades of the IEEC, took part in the Enterprise for Good Awards, and our CEO, Amy Brereton, joined the conversation around the future of enterprise education. For us, opportunities like this create spaces for people to share ideas and turn knowledge into action, all while contributing to our mission of shaping the next generation of responsible leaders.
