NordMar Plastic, a pan-Nordic project led by Matís, aims to raise awareness and educate the public about plastic pollution in the environment, as well as to develop and publish study materials or hold events that promote increased innovation in connection with the subject. A guide has now been published on how to hold a so-called hackathon or idea competition that deals with a specific topic.
The guide is useful for hacking an idea competition on environmental issues, either in the place where people meet as usual in a traditional season or in online worlds. The guide includes a to-do list, ideas for setting up a program, reviews and tips on what to do and what challenges organizers may face when planning an event of this kind. The guide is based on the planning and implementation of two hackathon events that were held in Iceland in the autumn of 2019 and 2020.
The guide is available in Pdf. formi here.
In September 2019, Plastaþon was held, an idea competition that aimed to find solutions to problems that people face in connection with the use of plastic. Participants received training and education on the issue and met a diverse group of people who came together to seek creative solutions under the guidance of experts. 50 people signed up, but a total of 34 completed the hack. Participants formed teams and worked together to solve the problem of overuse of plastic. The winning idea was to set up self-service stations for dairy products and other liquid products in supermarkets. Customers could then bring their own recyclable packaging and refill as needed.
A similar event was held in August this year, under the name Spjaraþon. Due to COVID-19, the event was moved to online worlds, which brought with it various challenges, but an attempt was made to keep all technical aspects as simple as possible. In this hackathon, participants came together to learn about the environmental problems associated with the textile industry and look for ways to combat textile waste. Experts talked to participants about the state of the problem and the state of the design process in the industry, and from the discussions, good ideas emerged about the development of solutions that were at the same time effective, realistic and useful. 14 individuals put forward good ideas but the winning solution was entitled Spjarasafn. Spjarasafn is a kind of Airbnb for clothes that allows users to rent out and borrow expensive luxuries that would otherwise normally hang unused inside the wardrobe.