Climathon Zurich

Become a climate hacker and be part of the 24-hour #Climathon in Zurich on October 27!

Solve the climate challenges put forward by the City of Zurich and Energie 360° in the area of food, e-mobility, energy and climate change adaptation.

Join the #Climathon Zurich as a developer, entrepreneur, technical expert or student with an existing idea, or simply to work on a new solution with an inspiring team. Experts and mentors will support your team in finding the best solutions to the challenges during the 24 hours.

A vibrant atmosphere, energising food and drinks, inspirational workshops and talks, like-minded people, a chill-out and sleep area, as well as many other surprises await you.

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Sign up for one of the two tracks:

TRACK 1: NEW IDEA

For developers, students, technical experts or entrepreneurs with or without a precise idea, who want to create new solutions on the day of the Climathon. The best solutions will get the chance to enter the Climate-KIC Greenhouse to get accelerated.

TRACK 2: EXISTING START-UP

For start-up teams who already developed a product or service that can be adapted to one of the challenges. The best solutions will get the chance to be further developed with the support of the City of Zurich and Energie 360°.

Track 1 and Track 2 teams can win start-up training vouchers, get the possibility to present the idea to city officials and will receive various goodies.

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CHALLENGES

The City of Zurich and Energie 360° are calling for your innovative ideas and solutions to four climate change challenges:

1. Food

How can residents of Zurich be motivated and empowered to contribute to an "edible city" by cultivating and harvesting crops, fruits and flowers and/or using wild edible plants from the urban area?

The solutions should focus on:

• Motivating people to do gardening activities that are beneficial for all residents e.g. lease or share a family garden, take part in a community garden, look after wild plants, look after a neighbour’s garden and support elderly people

• Motivating people to eat and use wild plants

2. Energy

How to make energy data more understandable for the user?

When we hear energy data, the first thing we think of is technical information - numbers, units and graphs which no one really understands. How can energy data be used to motivate homeowners and renters to be aware of energy consumption and to save energy in their daily life routine? How can we include energy data into our daily routine in a meaningful way?

The solution should focus on:

• Giving homeowners and renters access to all available energy data of their home in an understandable format

• Transferring technical information into a user-friendly language that allows users to play with energy data

• Motivating homeowners and renters to save energy in their daily life

• Helping homeowners to better understand what climate-friendly heating systems are

3. Climate change adaptation

How can residents contribute to climate-friendly city planning?

Due to climate change and increasing density of buildings, urban spaces are getting hotter and more crowded. To be able to maintain a high quality of life in the city of Zurich these urban spaces need to stay attractive for the local population, city planning measures should reflect the needs of the inhabitants and be climate resilient.

How can the needs of the local inhabitants and commuters in a district be collected and transferred to the city administration so this information can be used for climate-friendly city planning?

Solutions should focus on:

• Including information to be able to make overheated urban spaces more pleasant (e.g. where to put shading)

• Integrating available city data and offers about urban spaces

• Upgrading the urban spaces to favour pedestrians, cyclists and general recreational uses

• Finding an attractive way to collect information from the inhabitants (e.g. participation- platforms, etc.)

• Including a feature for inhabitants to interact with each other and also with city experts

4. E-Mobility

How to fit charging into the user’s daily routine, so that the driver does not see e-charging as a constraint?

To access e-mobility charging-infrastructure today, users of electric transport only have the option to search for charging infrastructure via websites/ mobile apps, which then display the charging stations on a map. How can we change this way of thinking and make e-mobility charging-infrastructure more attractive and convenient for e-mobility users?

Solutions should focus on:

• What services/entertainment can be offered during the charging time

• Real-time offerings that are available when the driver needs it.

• Ideas about interaction or integration into the car on board system
  

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SCHEDULE

Friday

2:30 pm Check-in

3:00 pm Opening and Challenges explained

4:00 pm Start of Hackathon

7:00 pm Dinner

9:00 pm Workshops (e.g. Business Modelling, Coding & App Development)

Saturday

0:00 am Midnight Yoga and Snack

8:00 am Breakfast

12:00 pm Lunch

4:00 pm End of Hackathon

4:15 pm Jury Presentations

5:30 pm Festival of Ideas

6:45 pm Appraisal Ceremony (with prizes for all)

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FAQs

Who can participate?

Start-ups, students, app developers, technical experts and citizens who want to contribute to the sustainable development of Zurich.

How do we work on the day?

You can come along with a pre-existing idea and work with a team to develop this during the 24 hours, or can develop an idea with a team which is built on the day.

I cannot program, can I still join the event?

Yes you can, we encourage people with various backgrounds to join the event. Innovative solutions to the local climate change problems can take different forms and do not need to include an application.

What are the follow-up options?

The best teams will get the chance to enter the Climate-KIC Greenhouse, receive start-up training vouchers and/or be able to further develop the idea with the support of the City of Zurich (city meeting) or Energie 360° (investor coaching and assessment) . Everyone will be able to participate in a business development workshop a week after the Climathon.

How can I contact the organiser with any questions?

Please send an email to fabienne.lang@climate-kic.org

What shall I do if I cannot or do not want to participate anymore?

Please cancel your ticket or send an email to fabienne.lang@climate-kic.org. We will keep track of the no shows.

Can I come as a guest?

Yes you can, please let us know and write an email to fabienne.lang@climate-kic.org