The three winner teams of the European citizens’ hackathon championship received their awards at a ceremony on 10 December 2024 in Brussels, during the stakeholder conference Driving EU Prosperity: The Future of Knowledge Valorisation - European Commission
Video on the European citizens’ hackathon Championship: EU Sparks for Climate 2024.
Cristina Russo, Director for Prosperity in the DG Research and Innovation highlighted the importance of this initiative for bringing research and innovation to society. The team representatives thanked the European Commission and organisers and described their next steps towards valorising their solutions. Representatives of the EU Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change praised the contribution of the winning solutions for the EU Missions and announced to further integrate them in their networks and activities.
The winner teams are:
The Nettuniani, for developing an innovative flood adaptation solution that protects businesses, infrastructure, and citizens, in line with the objectives of the EU Mission Adaptation to Climate Change
deICE, for developing an innovative solution for green, accessible and sustainable micro-mobility, in line with the objectives of the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
Allium, for developing an innovative solution for biodegradable packaging to reduce emissions and pollution from waste, in line with the joint objectives of the EU Missions for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change
Background:
The European citizens’ hackathon Championship has been rolled out throughout the year as a knowledge valorisation competition in 22 member states and 7 Horizon Europe associated countries. It has engaged hundreds of citizens and researchers to jointly develop innovative solutions for climate, supporting the objectives of the EU Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities and the EU Mission Adaptation to Climate Change. It aimed to showcase the role of research in solutions for society and for market opportunities that can also lead to new start-ups, address policy objectives for climate mitigation and adaptation, and provide a tool for similar initiatives in the future that can be taken up at any level (EU, national, local).
The finals of the EU Citizens Hackathon Championship took place on 10 October 2024 in Brussels. The presentation of 27 solutions for climate, that were awarded at the national hackathons, included a 1’ pitch video for each team, followed by a question-and-answer session with a public audience for all teams. A jury of 9 high level experts selected 9 finalists to continue in a second round. Finaly, of these, 3 teams were announced as the winners, one in each category: contributing to the EU Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, contributing to the EU Mission Adaptation to Climate Change and contributing to both EU Missions Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change.
The other 6 finalists from the first European Citizens Hackathon Championship are:
- City Layers – winners of Kassel & Klagenfurt Hackathon
- Green Cool Innovators– winners of Kassel & Klagenfurt Hackathon
- HempSustain Builders – winners of Coimbra Hackathon
- Plimira – winners of Athens Hackathon
- Smog Busters Alliance– winners of Burgas Hackathon
- ToysAreGreen – winners of Madrid Hackathon
For more information on the initiative see EU Sparks for Climate