Enter what the Hero SVG says - SUPER IMPORTANT
10 years. 100+ projects. The Residency is an interdisciplinary program at Concordia that partners with local organizations to tackle real-world challenges through paid, full-time student work over the summer.
Alan Shepard Summer Residency 2027 (From May 10, 2027 to July 30, 2027)
A Campus-Wide Collaboration
The Residency brings together local organizations, senior students, and Concordia’s broader academic and innovation community to work on real-world challenges.
We explore challenges, test ideas, and develop practical responses.
Partner Organizations bring
Their knowledge, experience, context, and understanding of the challenge.
They gain:
- Additional capacity and dedicated support to research, develop, test, or prototype an idea, opportunity, or challenge they may not otherwise have the time or resources to explore.
- A tangible project outcome shaped around their needs and priorities.
- Fresh interdisciplinary perspectives from senior student teams, along with access to relevant expertise and networks across Concordia and District 3’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Residents bring
The skills and knowledge they have developed through their studies, along with diverse perspectives, creativity, and curiosity.
They gain:
- Hands-on, meaningful experience working on real challenges with local organizations.
- Interdisciplinary collaboration with students from different fields and backgrounds.
- Innovation and entrepreneurial skills developed through practice.
- Mentorship and exposure to faculty, researchers, entrepreneurs, and practitioners.
District 3 Brings
The expertise, networks, and support to help the collaboration move forward - including connections to faculty, researchers, entrepreneurs, and practitioners with relevant knowledge and experience.
How it works
Four challenges. Four teams. 12 weeks.
Each team of three senior students works with a partner organization on one project throughout the Residency. Supported by subject-matter experts, Residents work full-time and are paid during the 12-week Summer semester.
The Residency moves through four phases, giving teams time to understand the challenge, explore ideas, test and refine them, and develop a practical solution.
The Residency moves through four phases, giving teams time to understand the challenge, explore ideas, test and refine them, and develop a practical solution.
1
Problem Scoping
Understand the challenge, context, stakeholders, and needs through research and engagement with the organization.
2
Prototyping
Develop initial ideas and prototypes based on what the team has learned, and begin testing them with relevant stakeholders.
3
Prototype Validation
Gather feedback from the organization and stakeholders, then test and refine the prototype.
4
Solution Development & Documentation
Develop the final solution and work with the organization to document it for future implementation.
Who's Involved
Partner organizations
Organizations with a meaningful challenge, opportunity, or idea they would like to explore but may not have the capacity to take on themselves.
Students
Senior students from different disciplines who bring developed knowledge, skills, curiosity, and creativity.
Faculty & researchers
Faculty members interested in mentoring students, contributing expertise, or connecting their research/discipline with real-world organizational challenges.
District 3
D3 provides structure, facilitation, mentorship, and connections to faculty, researchers, entrepreneurs, practitioners, and other relevant expertise.
previous projects
Owlkids
FROM DIGITIZATION TO TRANSFORMATION
The Challenge
With rising print costs and shifting family habits, Owikids needed to evolve its offering without diluting the creative, educational qualities made the brand beloved for decades.
Resident Intervention
Residents reframed the problem. Instead of "moving a magazine online," they surfaced what families actually valued about the magazine: tactile learning, creativity, and active engagement. They prototyped the Imagination Station: a digital environment that turns reading into doing, letting kids curate content, build connections, and leam through interaction.
Result
Reframing the transition from a print-to-digital archive into a thoughtful, literacy-driven digital education project, reinforcing the brand's lasting value to families.
Go Coconut
FORGING CIRCULAR ECONOMIES
The Challenge
As a sustainable manufacturer, the company was generating foam and fabric waste that contradicted its core environmental mission.
Resident Intervention
Inspected supply chains, unexpected opportunities Brokered a strategic partnership with a local animal shelter and designed a system to repurpose manufacturing scraps into high-quality dog beds.
Result
Slashed total company waste from over 2% to under 1% while unlocking new tax benefits and reinforcing their brand's commitment to zero-waste.
La Passerelle
BREAKING THE NONPROFIT STARVATION CYCLE
The Challenge
Changes in the public funding environment placed increasing pressure on traditional funding models, highlighting the need to strengthen long-term sustainability while continuing to meet growing demand for services.
Resident Intervention
Worked with leadership to explore new ways of leveraging the organization’s expertise in career transition and employability services, including opportunities to adapt existing core activities for revenue generation.
Result
Developed a strategic roadmap aimed at strengthening long-term sustainability and positioning the organization to diversify and evolve toward a social enterprise model.
Bring Us a Challenge
At District 3, partner organizations identify the projects that matter most to them. We then connect them with soon-to-be or recently graduated Concordia students, academics, researchers, and entrepreneurs whose knowledge, skills, and perspectives can help explore these challenges and bring new ideas to life.
For Organizations ->Jump right in!
For Students ->Take your skills into the real world
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