From classroom ideas to the clouds

Laya: Home to Bhutan’s highland communities and the glaciers that feed the country’s rivers, Laya, located about 4000 metres above sea level annually hosts the Royal Highland Festival, a celebration of culture, resilience and life in the mountains.

Among the prongs of Layaps wrapped in cloaks made from yak hair and visitors, at the festival ground is Trisha Nepal, 16, from one of the schools in the capital city, waiting patiently for visitors with her prototype lined up at the USPHIFT booth. A few steps away, Meto Pema, 16, from one of the schools in Southern Bhutan, beams with excitement as it is her first travel out of her hometown.

Trisha and Meto are among the 12 UPSHIFters presenting their ideas for the first time at the highland festival. As part of UPSHIFT, they were empowered to design solutions beyond textbooks for unique hardships faced by remote schools: water scarcity, harsh winters and limited access to affordable hygiene products. For students, this can mean missing classes and losing learning.

Through UPSHIFT, UNICEF’s global social innovation programme implemented by the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) and CSO Bhutan Youth Development Fund with support of UNICEF Bhutan, adolescents like Trisha and Meto learn to identify problems, design solutions, and test them with their communities. In Bhutan, MoESD successfully integrates UPSHIFT into the national scouting programme, extending its reach to all schools across the country and laying a foundation for sustainability.

After an intense UPSHIFT bootcamp with mentoring and hands-on exercises, Trisha’s team developed two prototypes initially with 3-D models.

The first prototype is called Nexacore, - a smart water distribution system that uses sensors to monitor water levels and prevent wastage with automatic faucet control. “We do not realize how much water is wasted until we turn off the faucet,” Trisha says.

Their second idea is called FLINT- a fire safety detection device that alerts a sudden increase in carbon dioxide in the surroundings and an animal detection system that alerts users via Telegram with real-life footage. “My friends and I saw many news reports of forest fires that damage beautiful landscapes and important structures. That’s why we developed FLINT.” Trisha adds.

For Meto’s team, their solution is drawn from local knowledge. “When our students were suffering from a skin allergy, we learnt that the root cause was students washing without soap due to its inaccessibility. Then we found out that our parents had been using Bashika plant (Justicia adhatoda or Vasaka ) as soap when they were young, and that is how it all started,” Meto shares. 

Bashika soap is made from medicinal Bashika stems plentifully available in her hometown, mixed with aloe vera and soapberry. With guidance from UPSHIFT mentors, the team learned basic formulation, packaging, pricing, and how to tell their story. They produced 150 bars ahead of the festival.

This year, MoESD and UNICEF partnered with the Royal Highland Festival to showcase youth-led innovations that bridge tradition and technology. Visitors, including herders, students, officials and travellers crowded the UPSHIFT booth. Trisha remembers a special moment the most: the honour of explaining her innovation to His Majesty - a conversation she never expected.

She recalls, “After tumbling on my words a few times, I was ultimately done with the presentation, and His Majesty mentioned that we can always improve our prototype by collaborating with others and working together. His Majesty highlighted that collaboration would help a small country like Bhutan compete with tech giants. As the interaction came to an end, I was washed over with gratefulness.”

By noon the second day, Meto’s team had nearly sold out their soaps with bars priced at Nu.70 (50g) and Nu.100 (100g). One USD is about Nu 88. “I want to bring our soaps to Laya, where markets are inaccessible and available soaps are expensive,” she smiles as a group of Layap children lean in to smell the aloe-scented soaps. For Meto, each bar sold is a step towards cleaner, accessible hygiene for youth. Their project is the first UPSHIFT idea to earn a spot in the Top 20 of the Global 1Million Youth Action Challenge 2025 among 188 applicants and the team is already exploring to scale their production to other schools.

Another UPSHIFTer, Tshewang Emsang Rai, says the festival offered real-world feedback as visitors asked if FLINT would work without relying on the internet. “From this experience, I have learned that with more people understanding our model, the more feedback we get, the more refined our model becomes. Personally, I have noticed a change in myself -  be it in terms of finding solutions for a problem or refining the solution or looking at a problem from different people's perspectives,” he reflects.

The UPSHIFT booth transformed into a live laboratory with children tinkering with the switches and elders fascinated by the lore. This vibrant exchange between youth creativity and community wisdom is where UPSHIFT quietly thrives, equipping adolescents with confidence, teamwork and communication skills that endure well beyond classrooms.

Following its inclusion in the formal curriculum, UPSHIFT in Bhutan is now entering the next phase of its evolution. In 2026, Bhutan will become the first country to launch UPSHIFT through Google Classroom. This next phase of scaling was developed through a collaboration between UNICEF’s Office of Innovation and Google for Education, with the support of UNICEF Bhutan and the Royal Government of Bhutan.

In this new model, by leveraging Google Classroom alongside additional AI-enabled tools, support for teachers is strengthened, facilitation is streamlined, and the cost and complexity of scaling are reduced. Building on Bhutan’s experience, UNICEF’s Office of Innovation will support other countries to launch UPSHIFT through Google Classroom.

As the festival winds down and the mountains echo with the audience’s laughter, Trisha packs her prototypes and Meto ties up the last bundle of soap. They carry home more than souvenirs. They carry experiences to rejoice, questions to refine and a belief that their ideas belong on any stage - in cities or highlands. “As long as you put in the hard work, time and dedication, you will be worthy of living all the moments that you have imagined.” says Trisha, as she prepares to start her travel back to the capital city.