Abstract
Even as hackathons expand in scope and scale, participants and problems still remain primarily those within or entering the field of software engineering. To apply the hackathon innovation model, incorporating rapid prototyping and development for environmental problems, Earth Hacks was created. This chapter discusses the creation of Earth Hacks, a purpose-driven interdisciplinary hackathon focused on generating innovative, actionable solutions to pressing environmental problems. We also detail the multidisciplinary approach we integrated into Earth Hacks events from the onset of the planning and ideation processes, as well as how we structure judging criteria to be able to take into account the multidisciplinary nature of the projects. We discuss the ideation process and organizational structure of Earth Hacks events, as well as strategies to make hackathon follow-up successful. We believe that hackathons can be a powerful tool to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and hope to be able to create a global community of student leaders dedicated to breaking down barriers in tech and applying their skills to solving environmental problems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Clean Earth Hack at MIT. (2015). MIT Clean Earth Hackathon. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://cleanearthhack.mit.edu/
D’Ignazio, C., Hope, A., Metral, A., Brugh, W., Raymond, D., Michelson, B., Achituv, T., & Zuckerman, E. (2016). Towards a feminist Hackathon: The ‘Make the Breast Pump Not Suck!’ Hackathon. Digital Journal of Peer Production.
Duke Blueprint. (2019). Duke Blueprint: A Sustainable Tech Ideation Conference. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from http://dukeblueprint.com/
Fishackathon. (2019). Fishackathon—Innovators Worldwide Protecting Life in Our Oceans. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://fishackathon.co/
Foody, G., Ling, F., Boyd, D., Li, X., & Wardlaw, J. (2019). Earth observation and machine learning to meet Sustainable Development Goal 8.7: Mapping sites associated with slavery from space. Remote Sensing, 11(3), 266. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11030266.
Green Hackathon. (2017). Hacking for sustainability—Green Hackathon. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from http://www.greenhackathon.com/
Halverson, E. R., & Sheridan, K. (2014). The Maker Movement in Education. Harvard Educational Review, 84, 495–504. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.4.34j1g68140382063.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2018). IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
Linnell, N., Figueira, S., Chintala, N., Falzarano, L., & Ciancio, V. (2014). Hack for the homeless: A humanitarian technology hackathon. In IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC 2014) (pp. 577–584).
Major League Hacking. (2019). MLH Parent Hackathon Guide. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://mlh.io/parent-hackathon-guide
Mishra, A. (2019). Electronics for sustainable development: State-of-the-Art research advances. IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine, 8, 66–66.
OpenBSD. (2019). OpenBSD Hackathons. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from http://www.openbsd.org/hackathons.html
PennApps. (2019). PennApps—The world’s largest college hackathon. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from http://pennapps.com/
Plan-It Earth. (2019). Plan-It Earth: Solve. Generate. Compete. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://www.georgetownplanitearth.com/
Postigo, H. (2012). The Digital Rights Movement: The role of technology in subverting digital copyright. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Richterich, A. (2017). Hacking events: Project development practices and technology use at hackathons. Convergence. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517709405.
Schroeder, P., Anggraeni, K., & Weber, U. (2019). The relevance of circular economy practices to the sustainable development goals. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 23, 77–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12732.
Terwiesch, C., & Ulrich, K. (2009). Innovation tournaments: Creating and selecting exceptional opportunities. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
The National Climate Assessment (NCA). (2018). The 4th NCA Volume II: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://nca2018.globalchange.gov
UN Environment. (2018). Emissions Gap Report 2018. United Nations Environment. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2018
Zapico, J. L., Pargman, D., Ebner, H., & Eriksson, E. (2013). Hacking sustainability: Broadening participation through Green Hackathons. Presented at the Fourth International Symposium on End-User Development, June 10-13, 2013, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-42228
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Paul, S. (2020). University Environmental Hackathons to Further the Sustainable Development Goals. In: Nhamo, G., Mjimba, V. (eds) Sustainable Development Goals and Institutions of Higher Education. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26157-3_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26157-3_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-26156-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-26157-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)