CaL 2025-26 Registrations Open Now
10% Discount for 20+ students
Last date to register: 1st July 2025

City as Lab
City as Lab (CaL) is founded with the belief that every student’s voice is important!
CaL provides a platform for school children to conduct original and authentic inquiry projects about the cities they live in.
CaL in Numbers

Students

Projects

Teachers

Schools

Cities
Types of Projects
Students may choose to work on one of the following types of projects for this year.

Story Project
The theme for 2025-26 is
Unseen Threads: The Many Faces of Gender Inequity.
Through this theme, we invite you to examine the multifaceted nature of gender inequity—through the voices of those who have experienced it, those who have confronted it (for themselves or others), those who have unknowingly upheld it, or those who have observed it from the sidelines.

Research Project
Students ask an original question, collect data and offer insights through a written paper. Selected groups present their papers at the next CaL conference in 2025-26. This is a great project for science or social studies teachers to mentor.

Coding Project
Students create a unique app that is useful during these unprecedented times. Students select a specific end-user for the app, define the problem, design and pilot the app, and create a “pitch” video as their final product. This is a great project for technology / coding teachers to mentor.

Maker Project
In this project, students design a working prototype solution for a relevant problem being faced by their city/community. The problem being addressed has to be related to United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities” The prototype must be tested before submitting the final product.

Service Project
Students set up and run a service project to support a disenfranchised group of people in their community.

Photography Project
The Theme for 2025-26 is Rhythm, Colour, and Movement: The Art of Our City.
Through this theme, we invite you to explore the artistic heartbeat of your surroundings and capture how music, dance, and visual art weave into the fabric of your community.
Timeline
May 31st
Early Bird Registration Closes
July 1st
Registration Deadline
August 15th
Phase 1 Submission Deadline
September 15th
Phase 2 Submission Deadline for Research Projects
September 30th
Phase 2 Submission Deadline for Maker and Coding Projects
October 10th
Phase 2 Submission Deadline for Story and Service Projects
October 18th
Phase 2 Submission Deadline for Photography Project
November 15th
Draft 1 of all Projects for feedback (optional)
December 10th
Final Product Submission
March
CaL Conference
CaL Journey
CaL Partners: Past and Present
















