Hackcovid – An online hackathon to think about the post-crisis

We recently joined the MATTERS consortium, an improvised entrepreneurial ecosystem, made up of different change agents, already involved in the economic transition, and mobilized around the theme of urban resilience. In view of the current situation, we have decided to speed up the process of reflection and co-creation by launching HACKCOVID, an online hackathon to think about the post-crisis.

A little bit of explanation:

While solidarity-based entrepreneurship has made it possible to develop in a record time a slew of innovative solutions to the urgent problems brought by the COVID-19, it is important to slowly start thinking about the future.

The current context linked to the Coronavirus has given birth to numerous entrepreneurial initiatives making it possible to help the most underprivileged. Social innovations are on the rise and are now attracting attention, questioning our different systems and the capitalist world in which we live.

Now is the time to think about the post-crisis, or at least our ability to bounce back quickly. To make this happen, together with MATTERS partners, we organized an hackathon from the 13th to the 17th April, obviously online. During 5 days in a row, accompanied by innovation experts, mentors and collective intelligence facilitators, the participating “entrepreneurs in the making” formed virtual teams around the 7 challenges to develop innovative solutions.

On  the last day, the 7 teams exposed their revisited version of mobility, health, education, food, media, economy and humanity during the live pitch session.

The 3 winners will have the chance now to implement their project with the help of human and financial resources, provided by the various partners of the MATTERS incubator.

Each of the actors involved in this initiative collaborates voluntarily in a wave of solidarity, like the many projects that have emerged recently. This movement aims to be inclusive and any organization wishing to contribute can still join MATTERS on the consortium’s website – www.matters.brussels.

More info:

303030 City Climate Change

City Climate Challenge

One of the recent initiatives that we would like to recognize is the “303030 City Climate Change” that connects many significant players with the ambition to support 30 collaborative projects, for 30% less CO2, by 2030 in Brussels.

Climate action is a priority area for the planet and this must be reflected within our society. Emissions reduction calls for actions to be taken at all political levels: regional, federal, national and European. The new regional political makeup creates an opportunity to act now for effective climate action through between government, academia, citizens and private sector. Turning the region into a low CO2 emission zone will not only boost the economy, but also create jobs and increase competitiveness.

This is what led to “303030 City Climate Change”, initiated by BECI. The goal is to give the private sector a leading role in climate policy by proposing and supporting the sustainability transformation of the city, the government, and Brussels based companies through collaborative innovation. Find more about this initiative here: https://www.303030.eu/