Our Journey to Brazil: EWC Qualifiers 2026
Our yearly Enactus World Cup Qualifiers finally came to an end over the two days at the NextGen Takerover 2026- and with that, we’ve got our Enactus team travelling and representing the UK and Ireland at the Enactus World Cup in Brazil! After the Regional Qualifiers, Top 20, and Top 4 competition, all taking place in 6 different locations accross the UK and Ireland, and the final rounds culminating at the NextGen Takeover at the ExCel Centre- we are able to share that the team travelling to Brazil for the Enactus World Cup 2026!
It’s been a long ride, with a lot of collaboration from our teams, resulting in tons of postitive impact across comunities in the UK and Ireland, and of course, some amazing and truly inspiring pitches from our Enactus teams. Starting us off with our Regional qualifier sessions back in March, running six qualifier sessions accross five locations: Dublin, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, and London, marking the official start of the road to the Enactus World Cup in Brazil. With the support of our corporate partners including Amazon, BDO, IBM, and Enterprise Mobility, the team managed to create a great celebration of student-led social impact, with 200 students and over 30 university teams, with all teams taking to the stage to pitch projects to a panel of 100 expert judges drawn from our corporate partner network.
Enactus Southampton, NextGen Takeover 2026
Onto the NextGen Takeover, our Qualifing Top 20 and Top 4 rounds saw the best of the best of student innovation, positive impact and collaboration from Enactus Teams. With a panel of over 100 judges from our corporate network and over 500 members of the Enactus community, our NextGen Takeover was the stage for our Top 20 and Top 4 qualifying rounds.
Throughout our Qualifier rounds, students have shown a fantastic ability to turn ideas into action, and action into impact. They have mastered essential responsible ideas into action, and action into impact. Through all projects from our top 20 teams, we reached over 2000 beneficiaries- testimony of the leadership skills, creativity, communication, and collaboration Enactus students develop, all while creating projects that create meaningful lasting impact in their local communities.
Panel of Judges at our Top 20 Rounds, NextGen Takeover 2026
“The calibre of projects and presentations from all of the University teams was exceptional“
-Helen Alkin, BDO, Judge
Judges highlighted their postitive experience engaging with our teams, and how ther experience as part of our board of judges provides the right opportunity to give back to the community. On this note, we are extremely thankful for our judges supporting at our qualifier rounds. These play an essential role in providing essential feedback and recommendations to our teams for them to go on and create more positive impact. Our qualifying rounds would not take place without our judges, as building blocks to drive the next generation of responsible leaders.
“I had the opportunity to engage with some brilliant teams on the Enactus UK & Ireland NextGen Takeover 2026 Top 20 competition and what stood out most for me was the depth of thought behind their projects.“
-Shiva W., British Airways, Judge
Finally, the Top 4 competition, with the best Enactus teams across the UK and Ireland- Exeter, TU Dublin, Southampton, and Durham. All delivering remarkable pitches to our final round judges and our dedicated Enactus community present at the second day of the NextGen Takeover 2026 at our closing and celebration ceremony. Afteral all, we are proud to announce that Enactus TU Dublin will represent Enactus UK & Ireland at the Enactus World Cup 2026 in Brazil. This marks the first time an Irish university team will take the UK & Ireland spot on the global stage. Showcasing their impactful projects, including S’port for Grief and BiaBox.
Pitching in front audience of over 500 members of the Enactus network, including students, alumni, coaches and a dedicated panel of over 50 final round judges, Enactus TU Dublin showcased two of their projects getting them their ticket to Brazil- S’port for Grief: a sport-based wellbeing initiative that supports young people and adults experiencing bereavement through inclusive football events and workshops. And BiaBox: a subscription-based redistribution model that delivers free surplus food to households.
TU Dublin was praised both for their identification of needs and the scale of their impact. Through BiaBox, the team has achieved 459kg of surplus food saved, 1093 meals served and over 200 direct beneficiaries. Through S’port for Giref, they ran 10 targeted events and interventions, and reaching over 200 individuals, helping them in their journey through grief- helping them rebuild confidence and wellbeing.
[On S’port for Grief] Mental health such an issue among young people. Well done for tackling something so underserved but so fundamentally life changing. [On BioBox] innovative & empathetic thinking! […] What a great way to reach more people.
TU Dublin we’ll be representing us this year at the Enactus World Cup 2026 in Brazil, and we incredibley proud and confident that they will be a great representation for all Enactus teams accross the UK and Ireland. At the core of our philosophy, we hold that We All Win- from our teams participating at our qualifiers, our judges and alumni, to every singe live imrpoved through our youth-lead projects. Our Enactus World Cup Qualifiers are a step forwards towards our mission to develop the next generation of responsible leaders- and this year’s, was no exception.
EWC Qualifiers Winner, Enactus TU Dublin, NextGen Takeover 2026
