Reduce, reuse, recycle the three key principles of ‘circular thinking’
For generation Z, sustainability is a lifestyle that is reflected in daily habits: from the conscious choice of products to anti-waste habits when travelling, up to the challenges to share good social and environmental practices. This is the picture that emerges from the results of the first Hackathon for Impactthe creative marathon that allowed university students and young workers from Udine, Naples and Bologna to create innovative solutions to propose circular economy solutions.
The initiative, organized as part of the CSR 2023 Giro d’Italia, involved 3 cities, 46 participants, 20 jurors, 10 witnesses and 9 facilitators with the aim of encouraging SMEs but also other organizations to act by being inspired by three cardinal principles of ‘circular thinking’: reduce, reuse, recycle. The participants challenged each other, stopwatch in hand, to design and prototype their solution to respond to the request launched by the Salone using the methodology of Big Bloom, a French association that has been organizing solidarity hackathons for years.
“The Big Bloom methodology – explains Laura Montagna, director of Big Bloom Italy – is based on Design Thinking and allows for the generation of concrete and implementable ideas to accelerate social innovations and offer participants a training experience that helps develop soft skills: listening active, creativity, teamwork and communication. Big Bloom’s motto is Learning better by doing good. The participants worked all day with passion and enthusiasm following the 4 phases of the methodology: empathy, collecting interviews with stakeholders to understand their needs; the conception with the proposal of numerous creative ideas and the choice of the best one to develop; prototyping with the construction of a concrete project, integrating the budget and development plan. Finally, each team presented their project during the pitch phase in 5 minutes”.
The first edition of Hackathon for Impact was created with the support of Cial, the National Aluminum Packaging Consortium.
The first Hackathon took place in Udine on 9 March 2023, organized in collaboration with Animaimpresa. The winner was the ‘RaccontaCi’ project: a QRcode that allows access to a video of a few seconds, made by companies in collaboration with a local school, which tells the story of the life of a product born from recycling. The hackathon of Naples, the second of the inaugural 2023 edition, was played on 22 March and organized in collaboration with the Suor Orsola Benincasa University and the Parthenope University. The winning team created the ‘GreenWin’ app, thanks to which companies can offer their customers sustainable behavior through a series of challenges that also aim to raise awareness and retain consumers. The latest hackathon, organized in collaboration with Impronta Etica, moved to the Mug – Magazzini Generativi in Bolognalast March 31st. The project chosen by the jury, also made up of university professors and local entrepreneurs, was ‘Re-Style’: a clothing and accessory rental service for travelers who want to travel without too much luggage, created with a network of SMEs premises committed to reducing their environmental impact.
The teams that won the three Hackathons for Impact will compete on 6 October 2023 in Milan during the eleventh national edition of the CSR and social innovation show, this year entitled ‘Living for change’.
Source-www.adnkronos.com