fbpx

Some 24 teams from Lithuania, Sweden, Turkey, and India competed in the virtual idea competition UNLOCK SDGs HACKATHON held on 20-21 May. The main challenge of the competition was to make a creative presentation of sustainable development goals. The presentation on their ideas lasted more than 150 minutes and the teams’ videos were viewed by over 40,000 viewers.

FIRST PLACE WINNER – SAFER CITIES IDEA “EMERGENCY BUTTONS”

The first place winner was a team of eighth-graders of Klaipėda Lyceum, who chose the eleventh sustainable development goal: to make cities and populated areas safe, resilient, and sustainable. The proposed idea for achieving this goal was “Emergency Buttons.” According to a member of the team Rapolas Žygus, the idea was born from personal experience: “We hear from the media and now from our own experience that after dark, big cities are not the safest places. Therefore, to address this problem, we have developed emergency buttons that would be installed next to traffic lights along with video cameras in derelict urban areas. It would be like a helping hand to a frightened or perhaps even injured citizen who is in imminent danger.” The winners received the main prize of €1,000 for the creation and development of a prototype of the idea. The prize was awarded by the SBA home group. The team intends to further develop the idea and present the “Emergency Buttons” to the city authorities.

RUNNER-UP IDEAS ENCOURAGING INNOVATION AND STRIVING FOR REDUCED IMPACT OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE

The second place went to a youth team from Vilnius, which focused on the ninth SDG goal: to develop resilient infrastructure and promote inclusive, sustainable industrialization, and innovation. Yuffi – the prototype of a virtual restaurant menu created by students – provides opportunities to update the menu in real-time, save finances, order food safely without additional contacts, and gather customer feedback and suggestions.

The third place went to Roberta Gaudiešiūtė, a student of Klaipėda Faculty of Vilnius Academy of Arts. Roberta presented the thirteenth SDG goal: to mitigate the effects of climate change. To this end, Roberta has created an educational game Superhero Academy, which aims to teach children how to care for nature.

Special Mars Lithuania prizes were awarded to the seventh graders of Klaipėda Simonas Dachas Progymnasium, Step to eco, Šilutė district team, and a student of Klaipėda Faculty of Vilnius Academy of Arts Roberta Gaudiešiūtė.

Event organizers: Klaipėda City Municipality, “Klaipėda – European Youth Capital 2021.” Partners: Klaipėda Association of Youth Organizations “Round Table”, Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania, Light House, SBA Group, DFDS Lithuania, Mars Lithuania, Klaipėda Lyceum, Klaipėda Simonas Dachas Progymnasium, SMK University of Applied Social Sciences, Klaipėda Faculty of Vilnius Academy of Arts, Klaipėda State University of Applied Sciences, Lithuanian Business University of Applied Sciences, Sustain Academy and others.