Climathon: Cities. Hacking. Solutions.

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Institutional Communication Service

25 September 2019

The issue of global warming is one that worries many, especially young people all over the world who are concerned about their future. But do the public protests really have an impact on people or, even more so, on decision makers?   

Climate-KIC, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), since 2015 has been organising Climathon – a hackathon-style 24-hour event in which small teams take part to meet the challenges launched by the organising cities to devise innovative solutions and project ideas that can then be put into action. For the first time, Climathon will take place south of the Alps, in Mendrisio, on 25 and 26 October at the new Emergency Response Centre. The challenge launched by the City of Mendrisio, in collaboration with SUPSI, concerns summer heat waves, which in recent times have been intensified by climate change and made even more critical by the increasing presence of tar and cement in urban areas, which provokes indeed the accumulation of heat.

At the "climate marathon", participants will be assisted and by experts and coaches, who will accompany and support them in the definition, development and pitch of their ideas, also through workshops and training sessions, with the ultimate goal of winning the competition. The teams will also be assisted by USI, with experts from the Academy of Architecture and coaches from CP Start-Up, Il Litorale and the SostA project. 

Climate-KIC, one of the several initiatives of this kind proposed by the EIT (e.g. Digital, Health, InnoEnergy, UrbanMobility...), promotes the activities of the so-called "Knowledge and Innovation Communities" (KICs), partnerships made up of universities, research centres and companies united by the common intention of pursuing a strategic agenda in specific scientific and technological sectors, through integrated activities of higher education, research and innovation. The ultimate goal is to make an impact on our habits and the decisions that we make - or that are made for us. 

Information and registration at: https://climathon.climate-kic.org/it/mendrisio

 

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