The City of Espoo participates in a sustainable development hackathon

10.3.2023 7.22Updated: 13.3.2023 5.47

The city will participate in a hackathon that aims for a better future. The event will be held from 31 March to 2 April, simultaneously on two continents.

Solve the SDGs is a hackathon where the participants work together towards a better tomorrow by creating solutions for reaching the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This year, Solve the SDGs is organised simultaneously in Finland, Uganda and Tanzania, enabling intercontinental collaboration and new perspectives on familiar challenges.

This year’s theme is working together for a better future

Organised by Junction and Aalto University’s entrepreneurship education programme called Aalto Ventures Program, the event will bring together an international group of students, alumni and mentors to work on challenges related to the Sustainable Development Goals. Junction was established at Aalto University and is now one of the biggest hackathon organisers and tech communities in Europe.

The City of Espoo, together with the UN Association of Finland and Cireco, will present the hackathon participants with one challenge to solve.

“At the Solve the SDGs Hackathon, we will have a chance to work together with young international talents and solve sustainable development challenges with the help of the framework of the UN Agenda 2030. This is our third hackathon and even though we have the role of a coach, we always learn something new,” says Project Manager Ville Taajamaa, who is responsible for the City of Espoo’s UN Agenda 2030 work.

The hackathon will now be held for the fourth time, but this is the first fully physical event. The theme of this year’s hackathon is working together for a better future. Cooperation between different countries and creating links between different fields of study make it possible to find new solutions to old challenges.

“The previous hackathons have had a diverse group of participants and generated a great deal of international interest. Sometimes the gender distribution has been almost 50–50, which is rare at tech events. It has also been wonderful to have participants from nearly 50 countries,” says Tommi Byman from Aalto University.

Last year, Solve the SDGs attracted more than 200 participants from all over the world and produced over thirty solutions to the world’s acute problems.

Participants select the winner

The hackathon is open to everyone irrespective of their field of study or how far they are in their studies and also to persons who are not university students. No prior hackathon or programming experience is required. It is enough that the participants are interested in developing something new and promoting sustainable development.

The participants select the hackathon winner, who will receive a prize of EUR 3,000 and a Golden Ticket for the Junction 2023 main event(external link, opens in a new window), including accommodation and a travel grant. In addition, the best solution to each challenge will be rewarded by the organisation that presented the challenge.

You can sign up for the hackathon until 17 March. Read more at www.solvethesdgs.com(external link, opens in a new window).

  • Sustainability