Ready for the Map the System Global Final 2025
Welcome the Map the System Global Final 2025 with us on 3 - 6 July
Developed and led by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Map the System is not a traditional pitch competition. Rather than proposing immediate solutions, student teams are invited to deeply investigate a chosen issue - exploring its root causes, relationships, power structures, and systemic dynamics. The online learning programme, developed in partnership with Oxford Saïd Online, embodies the School’s commitment to rigorous, impact-focused learning.
Each year, the Skoll Centre partners with higher education institutions globally to deliver the programme locally. Students conduct in-depth research during the academic year, and the top teams are selected to participate in the Global Final in Oxford. This year’s competition features 134 student finalists from 50 institutions across 17 countries, drawn from an original cohort of more than 1,750 students.
Marya Besharov, Academic Director of the Skoll Centre and Professor of Organisations and Impact at the School, said: 'We’re thrilled to welcome this extraordinary group of students and educators to Oxford for Map the System 2025. Now more than ever, the world needs leaders who can think systemically - who understand the complexity of the challenges we face, and who can collaborate across boundaries to drive meaningful change. This programme helps young people to develop those capabilities, cultivating the next generation of systems thinkers and changemakers.”
The event will include student presentations on their chosen topics, analysed through a systems thinking lens. This year’s finalist topics range from climate migration and urban food insecurity to mental health, education inequity, and beyond.
Among the finalists are the winning team from the University of Oxford Map the System Competition, OxHEAL, with their systems-level analysis of the structural barriers contributing to delayed diagnosis of Endometriosis in the UK.
The student presentations sit alongside a series of learning sessions and discussions with leading scholars and practitioners. The School and Skoll Centre Visiting Fellow Martin Kalungu-Banda will deliver a session on systems leadership, offering students insights into how personal and organisational leadership can support systems change.
This year’s panel of judges includes Sepiso Dean Mwamelo from the Africa Oxford Initiative, Anjali Sarkar from the Oxford Character Project, Dr Catherine Hasted, Deputy Director of the Skoll Centre, Dr Anant Jani, Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, and Dr Pu Yang, also a Research Fellow at Oxford.
The competition will conclude with the announcement of the top three teams, who will receive cash prizes of £5,000 for first place, £4,000 for second place, and £3,500 for third place. In addition to these prizes, several Excellence Awards will be given to recognise outstanding contributions across different aspects of systems research and analysis.
You can follow the Skoll Centre’s social media channels (LinkedIn and Instagram) for updates and highlights throughout the four days. Map the System reflects the School’s mission to foster global collaboration, innovative thinking, and meaningful impact. We look forward to welcoming the finalists and sharing their ideas with our wider community.
Thank you to everyone at Oxford Saïd who is helping make this event a success - especially our security, reception, audio visual and catering teams.
