Four New European Bauhaus hackathon ideas win €10,000 prize to develop and grow ideas

Four exciting projects who participated in this year’s EIT Community New European Bauhaus Hackathons have been selected to develop their idea further through a 10,000 EUR Makerspace voucher. The individual teams attended hackathons across the continent in September and October and their ideas were selected as having potential to further the aims of the New European Bauhaus to create a beautiful, sustainable and inclusive Europe.

The EIT Community New European Bauhaus hackathons aim to support fresh ideas from students and local entrepreneurs and help to develop these ideas in an intense and radically collaborative environment. With the 10,000 EUR voucher, teams will be able to access a Makerspace to develop their solution into concrete goods or services, I.e. taking it to the prototype stage that can be tested with focus groups.

The four categories and winners from this year are:

Reconnecting with nature: URBAN TREE
URBAN TREE is a sustainable urban drainage system made of low CO2 concrete and covered in plants which can grow from the rainwater stored in them. This solution is particularly ideal for paved areas of cities as it can be placed directly on top of pavements and does not require excavation like other drainage systems or trees. Combining the drainage system and greenery, the product aims to ease the pressure on the sewage systems, as well as contributing to a greener city.

Regaining a sense of belonging: Molo61
Focusing on the area of ‘Italia 61’ zone in Turin, Molo61 wants to create a multi-functional and sustainable place for teenagers and young people to use to study, work or just spend time together. The project suggested co-working and co-design interventions made from sustainable materials and involving members of the community in the design process.

Circularity: PuliTO
The elodea plant has long been treated as a danger and problem to the river Po in Turin but despite efforts, can no longer be permanently eradicated from the area. Given this, PuliTO aims to give new life to this plant by using the extraction and research of it to offer citizens local education on the problem, as well as being able to produce products from the aquatic plant that are vital to the search for new supplementary vegetable proteins, bioplastics and natural fertilizers.

Prioritising people and places that need it most: Orlegi
Orlegi aims to make cities greener through a gamified app where citizens can make suggestions about how to improve their neighbourhoods and governments can access this data to act on it. Tools in the app will give citizens suggestions of how to change their neighbourhoods, for example through bike lanes or more greenery, giving citizens the tools to reimagine their neighbourhoods and the local authorities a better understanding of the needs of the local area.

The EIT Community New European Bauhaus initiative is an initiative supported by European Institute of Technology and Innovation and led by EIT Climate-KIC with EIT Digital, EIT Food, EIT Manufacturing and EIT Urban Mobility.