#ZEROHackathon 2019

The Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI – UNA Italy) together with the Students’ Movement for International Organization (MSOI/UNYA-Italy), in partnership with the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research and the United States Embassy to Italy a and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Rome, will launch the third edition of #ZeroHackathon.

This year’s completely renewed version of the SIOI’s youth competition of ideas will focus on the role of sustainable development to address the consequences of climate change in the Arctic, Antarctic and Oceans.

We will challenge more than 200 highly motivated young students from high schools and universities all around the world. They will gather in Rome from 2nd to 4th October 2019, to take part in the third edition of the international youth competition where creativity, civic engagement and teamwork are key elements to success.

Participants are invited to develop innovative, high-impact ideas and projects to promote international cooperation, rising awareness on the most pressing issues related to Oceans and Poles, strengthening resilience of multi-scale changes, addressing the rapidly changing climate and the consequences of pollution, improving a safe and secure use of marine protected areas and the Arctic and Antarctic resources.

Those involved will work in teams and submit their final proposal via a video and/or a ppt presentation at the pitch session that will take place during the closing Ceremony.

Proposals will be assessed by a multidisciplinary jury and judged based on their practicality, social impact and innovation.
Prestigious institutional representatives, professionals and teachers will also participate in the event and make their knowledge and methods available in order to support teams in the development of their solutions.

The best proposals will be awarded!

#ZeroHackathon: Oceans and Polar Connections will serve as a central venue in creating a connection between learning and doing, enabling young people to collaborate creatively, promoting the importance of cooperation and teamwork in order to tackle the most pressing global challenges.

ZERO is where we start from in building up this event. #ZEROHackathon is an innovative competition that starts with the proposals of the new generation and will bring ideas and creative solutions to challenging problems.
We have shaped this challenge as a unique marathon of ideas starting from ZERO: ZERO as in finding completely new solutions, ZERO as in developing critical thinking in a dynamic environment and ZERO as in shaping a new frontier of problem solving and developing proposals.
Finally, we start from ZERO in contributing to the involvement of young people in the implementation of the new Sustainable Development Agenda, as they will be the most influenced by its effects.

The word "Hackathon" is a portmanteau of the words "hack" and "marathon" where "hack" is used in the sense of exploratory programming, referring to an event that brings together programmers and developers, designers and innovators, experts and problem solvers, as well as endusers to develop web and/or mobile app solutions in real-time, building innovative solutions to an identified challenge.

Hackathons embrace Design Thinking, a human-centered approach to innovation that first defines the problem and then implements the solutions, always with the needs of the user at the core of concept development. This process focuses on the need for: finding understanding, creating, thinking, and doing. At the core of this process there is a hidden goal embracing action and creation: by creating and testing something, you can continue to learn and improve upon your initial ideas.

Participants are invited to present innovative high-impact projects, services and/or tools capable of meeting global requirements that are in line with the themes of #ZEROHackathon.

Each team will submit its proposal presenting a video and/or a ppt presentation during the pitch session that will take place during the Closing Ceremony.

Proposals will be assessed by a multidisciplinary jury according to their social impact, innovation, originality and feasibility.

The best proposals will be awarded!