NEB Citython Vitoria-Gasteiz Boosts New Urban Solutions Through A New European Bauhaus (NEB) Hackathon
Citython 2022 brought its first New European Bauhaus (NEB) edition with the event in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) on 30 September – 2 October. A hackathon focused on the NEB values of re-connecting with nature, re-gaining a sense of community and belonging, and prioritising the places and people that need it the most. The event gathered participants with expertise in urban planning, architecture, engineering, data science, transport, IT, and business creation from all around the world, split into teams that competed against each other driving innovation to address the key challenges the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz faces.
Challenge 1: Mobility – Improve security against bicycle theft through data, digital, and IT solutions.
Challenge 2: Citizen Engagement – Design a citizen engagement user experience that enables the process of energy rehabilitation of housing by neighbourhoods.
Challenge 3: Green Infrastructures – Identify, prioritise and select pedestrian routes, and then design green infrastructures to improve them.
Funded by the EIT Climate-KIC and the EIT Community New European Bauhaus, two European initiatives that make cities more sustainable and liveable, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), and organised in a hybrid manner by CARNET in partnership with the Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz and the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya (UPC), NEB Citython Vitoria-Gasteiz was launched on 30 September in a public ceremony to introduce the agenda, challenges, and welcome participants.
Natalia Vera, representative of the EIT New European Bauhaus, gave a welcome speech along with the Deputy Major of the Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Ana Oregi. Inspirational talks that addressed the challenges were also given. Prominent figures, such as Efren Feliu, Climate Change Adaptation Manager at TECNALIA, shared their experience with the participants.
The hackathon started after the speeches, on the evening of 30 September and covered two days of hard work, with participants working on their best solutions in a hybrid environment, both online and in person. Throughout the event, expert mentors such as Juan Carlos Escudero, Chief of Mobility and Data Science at the Environmental Studies Department of the Municipality of Vitoria-Gateiz, were available to support and challenge the teams on their ideas (1 and 2 October).
Participating teams developed their proposals until 2 October, and submitted their ideas later that day. A panel of judges composed of Dr. Laia Pagés, Executive and Scientific Manager at CARNET, Beatriz García-Moncó Piñeiro, Coordinator of the 2030 Agenda at the Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Elisa Sayrol, Professor and Researcher at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Ana Oregi, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz, and Eider Goñi, Professor and Researcher at UPV/EHUS, evaluated the quality and feasibility of the submitted solutions to select the winners of the hackathon.
The winning teams for the proposed challenges are:
Winning team 1 – Challenge 1 | Paranoid Androids – Group 1 (Juan Abia, Fernando Flores y Elena Rodriguez)
Winning team 2 – Challenge 2 | Futuro Conjunto – Group 7 (Saioa Altamirano y Alberto Tobalina)
Winning team 3 – Challenge 3 | Orlegi Way – Group 4 (Gorka Pradas, Elixabet Pecina y Geraldine Sulca)
Our next Citython edition will take place on 12 -13 November 2022 in the Municipality of Neapoli-Sykies, Thessaloniki (Greece). The challenges are already published on the project website and focus around sustainability.
For more information about the project: https://citython.eu/vitoria-gasteiz/