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Rovereto is the Trentino stage of the 2019 Global Climathon

October 5, 2019

On 25 and 26 October, Progetto Manifattura will host the hackaton promoted by Climate-KIC with the aim of developing innovative solutions for the environment. In Trentino the focus will be on the recycling of electrical and electronic waste and on repair

The world marathon dedicated to the development of innovative solutions to help cities fight climate change is coming back to Trentino: 24 hours in which students, freelancers, citizens, computer scientists and policy makers will join forces to devise and develop “climate friendly” solutions to be applied to the community.

Rovereto is one of over 100 cities in the world that have joined the 2019 edition of the Global Climathon promoted by Climate-Kic, each one of them called to address a specific environmental challenge.

The Trentino event was organized by Fondazione Bruno Kessler, HIT – Hub Innovazione Trentino Fondazione, and will deal with two challenges: to increase the collection of small household WEEE in the city of Rovereto and in Trentino, and to encourage the creation of a small community of Trentino-based e-repair services providers.

Researchers and experts from Fondazione Bruno Kessler and HIT will provide participants, for the entire hackathon, with support to develop effective solutions for the two challenges.

The event is open to all and will combine multidisciplinary skills in an effort to imagine solutions for the community – Elisabetta Farella, a researcher at Fondazione Bruno Kessler said – Computer scientists, entrepreneurs, students, citizens and policy makers, led by experts and following the principles of Design Thinking, will work in small teams to devise new ideas or solutions for the collection and correct management of EEE (electrical and electronic equipment) and WEEE (waste from electrical and electronic equipment) ”.

Both challenges stem from an observation: electrical and electronic waste is the fastest growing waste in the world and represents a problem for the ecosystem of our planet, but also missed opportunities and value, if you think that this type of equipment very often can either be repaired and continue to be used or, if disposed of correctly, can generate important environmental and socio-economic benefits, reducing the impact on the environment and creating new green business opportunities”.

The challenges are aimed precisely at reducing the production of this kind of waste by acting in two directions,” Milena Bigatto, education officer at HIT, explained. The teams will have to, on the one hand, develop actions and solutions that will stimulate local communities to properly recycle their electrical and electronic items and to take old smartphones and small appliances out of the drawers or storerooms, and take them to special collection centers in order for materials and components to be recovered; on the other hand, to imagine how to create a community of local repairers capable of extending the life of those non-functioning objects that would otherwise be replaced with new models, becoming waste in turn”.

Participation in the Climathon is free and online registration is required. The event is open to individuals and groups. You can either present an ongoing project or an idea, or start a new solution together with the other participants. In addition to the satisfaction of getting involved to help design something useful for the environment and for the planet, the teams will have the chance to win the prizes given by the supporters of the initiative.

The Rovereto Climathon is an initiative of Dolomiti Ambiente, Ecodom, Rovereto Municipality, Green Idea, Progetto Manifattura, Trentino Trasporti, Trentino Sviluppo and Dedagroup.

 


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