We are happy to announce that the Social Hackathon at HOU, Greece was successfully completed!

In a live, 3-day experience that took place on September 6th, 7th and 8^th of September 2021 at the premises of the Hellenic Open University in Patras, 19 young people aged 16-30, co-created digital solutions to problems related to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This Hackathon selected the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030 as the main framework for identifying the relevant societal challenges to be addressed locally with the active participation of Civil Society Organizations. The challenges were designed in collaboration with 4 CSOs as follows:

1. Visualization of data on surplus drugs in Greece – designed by Givmed (https://givmed.org/en/)

2. Emotional Intelligence, Transformational Leadership and Workplace Prosperity – designed by InetrmediaKT (https://intermediakt.org/home-gr/)

3. Detection of invasive – terrestrial organisms (plants, animals) in the ecosystem. The case of Ailanthus altissima – designed by the Ecological Movement of Patras (https://www.oikipa.gr/)

4. Recording the problem of pollution from garbage that is thrown away out of the bin – designed by Save Your Hood (https://saveyourhood.gr/)

The participants were organized in groups.  Each group was supported by a facilitator, and there was frequent contact with the social actors who designed the challenges. The applications developed by the young hackers concerned functional prototypes or mockups which provided pioneering solutions to the challenges posed.

At the end of the event, the participants received a symbolic gift and the 3 best solutions were awarded by a special committee.

It is noted that the organization of Hackathon complied with all the necessary safety rules regarding the COVID19 pandemic by making use of the digitally interconnected, modular rooms of HOU.