Hackathon: Making sustainable cities and communities

Overview

Have you thought about starting a business or social enterprise? Are you passionate about making a positive impact on the world?

Join us for this full-day hackathon, where you'll work collaboratively to develop innovative solutions to address critical challenges related to UN Sustainable Development Goal 11, and UCL’s Grand Challenge, on ‘sustainable cities and communities'.

Who it’s for

This hackathon is open to UCL students, staff and recent graduates (within 3 years of graduating).

You don't need any prior knowledge, just enthusiasm and an interest in working with others to develop innovative solutions.

What to expect

The goal of this hackathon is to develop an idea which could make cities and/or human settlements more inclusive, safe, resilient and/or sustainable.

You'll work in teams to identify real world problems relating to this topic and come up with innovative solutions.

At the end of the day, you’ll pitch your idea for a product or service to the rest of the group, with prizes awarded for the best pitches.

What you’ll learn

Attending this hackathon will help you learn how to:

• identify a gap in the market
• develop an idea for a product or service
• build the foundations of a business or social enterprise
• pitch your idea
• develop your entrepreneurial mindset

Programme

9am – Registration, welcome and opening talk with guest speaker Dr Laura Narvaez Zertuche, Partner at Foster + Partners  9:30am – Problem identification and solution ideation 10:30am – Business model canvasing and competitor analysis 11:30am – Branding and prototyping 12:30pm – Lunch and networking 13:30pm – Pitch preparation with guest speaker and pitch practice 3:30pm – Pitches in front of panel of judges with feedback 4:30pm – Awards presentation 5pm – Next steps and end of hackathon

About the tutors

Matthew Harris and Mikael Tesfaye, Entrepreneurship Advisors at UCL Innovation & Enterprise, will be running the session.

Matthew - who delivers the SPERO entrepreneurship training programme for doctoral students and early career researchers - has 10 years' entrepreneurial experience.

Mikael, who is responsible for our core entrepreneurial training programme, holds an MSc in Business Innovation with Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management from Birkbeck.

Our guest speaker

Dr Laura Narvaez Zertuche is a Partner at Foster + Partners' Urban Design team, focusing on people movement and data analytics. Her work incorporates evidence-based and research-led design that combines informed decision-making with simulation-powered design tools and strategic development of methodologies with their application to architecture and urban design.

Laura is a Lecturer at the Chair of Cognitive Sciences in ETH Zurich and an advisor for Urban AI, a think-tank exploring AI's sustainable urban applications. She holds an MSc and PhD from the Space Syntax Laboratory at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, and serves as an external supervisor for the MRes Interdisciplinary Urban Design at The Bartlett School of Planning.

Accessibility

If there is anything we can do to make this workshop more accessible for you, please let us know by emailing matt.harris@ucl.ac.uk

Photography

Filming and photography will take place at this event for promotional purposes. The photographs and recordings will appear on our website and social media channels. If you do not wish to be filmed or photographed, please let a member of staff know on arrival.

Date and times

Wednesday, 24 April 2024, 9am to 5pm