S10:E06 Municipal MarvelsS10:E06 Municipal Marvels
MuniCast
The conversation highlights the Municipal Marvels student challenge, where Saskatchewan youth design solutions for real municipal issues and present them to local leaders. Guest Sandy Baumengarter explains how the program links classroom learning with community challenges while building confidence and future leadership skills.
15:22•20 May 2026
Municipal Marvels: Youth Ideas Shaping Saskatchewan Communities
Episode Overview
- Municipal Marvels invites Saskatchewan students from Grade 5 and up to identify real issues like waste, energy use, and climate change and propose sustainable solutions.
- Projects connect directly to school subjects, turning classroom learning into hands-on, experiential problem-solving for local communities.
- Students work with teachers, parents, and mentors, including municipal professionals, who support them through questions and presentation practice rather than doing the work for them.
- Presenting at the SUMA Convention gives students authentic feedback from municipal leaders and builds their confidence, civic engagement, and future-ready skills.
- The program aims to grow across regions and communities, highlighting homegrown talent and stressing the need to invest in today’s youth as tomorrow’s engineers, mayors, and councillors.
“We often dismiss the value of ideas coming from children. But they're very well thought out, and the kids are coming up with the ideas, and they're experimenting, and they're trying.”
Curious about how young people tackle real problems in their own towns and cities? This conversation shines a spotlight on the Municipal Marvels student challenge, a joint effort between the Saskatchewan Science Centre and SUMA that puts Grade 5 and up students centre stage. Hosted at the 2026 SUMA Convention and Tradeshow, the challenge asks students to pick an issue like waste reduction, energy use, water conservation, transportation, or climate change and come up with creative, sustainable ideas.
As guest Sandy Baumengarter, chief executive officer of the Saskatchewan Science Centre, explains, the concept grew from an IMAX film, *Cities of the Future*, where “students were identifying problems in their communities and developing solutions for real-world problems around sustainability.” You’ll hear how teams work with teachers, parents, and mentors to build models, craft presentations, and link their projects to school subjects such as science, social studies, arts education, and practical and applied arts.
Sandy shares that delegates loved seeing elementary students confidently present on stage, calling it “experiential learning” that benefits both kids and municipal leaders. There’s plenty here for anyone interested in leadership, education, or community building. The episode touches on how the program boosts kids’ confidence, civic engagement, and future-ready skills, and how municipal leaders can support “homegrown talent” by taking young voices seriously.
Sandy openly jokes about being a dreamer while laying out a long-term vision of more schools, more regions, and maybe even satellite competitions. If you’re keen on youth, community problem-solving, or just want a dose of hope about the next generation of leaders, this conversation might leave you asking: what ideas are the young people in your own community waiting to share?
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