The Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE)* Hackathon was organized in Bonn from 26 - 28 September 2022 as part of the ACE Hub, promoted by the German regional government of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) to foster education and public awareness, training, public access to information and participation in climate change action.

Recognizing the importance of fostering climate action and empowering young leaders to mobilize climate solutions, the ACE Hackathon aimed to achieve the following objectives: 1) to contribute to efforts to build the skills and competencies of youth to collaborate and co-create innovative solutions to tackle an existing climate challenge, 2) identify short- to medium-term solutions for a transition to clean energy[1] at the local level and 3) provide an opportunity for local and international youth to connect, share knowledge and expertise and learn from each other.

Participants included 22 international and local youth from NRW. The hackathon took place over a period of three days, where individual participants formed five teams to brainstorm and find solutions to two real world challenges from the region of NRW.

This year’s theme focused on “Innovative Solutions for Clean Energy at the Local Level.” The call comes as an initiative to develop clean energy solutions given the three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies which was announced in Germany. It is envisioned that solutions emanating from the hackathon, can be implemented within the State of NRW with possible replication in other states in a bid to contribute to the 15% savings target. This hackathon, therefore, creates an opportunity for NRW to champion the initiative within the country.

Participants were able to interact with a variety of experts throughout the course of the hackathon on a wide range of topics and participated in training sessions to help them develop their ideas and build their solutions. Access the Design Thinking Methodology here.

The "Better 2gether" team impressed the jury for developing the most original solution with the highest potential for implementation with their app-based solution to connect renewable energy producers in rural areas with consumers in urban areas in a collaborative model.

Access the reflection report here.

*Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) is a term adopted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to denote work under Article 6 of the Convention (1992) and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement. The over-arching goal of ACE is to empower all members of society to engage in climate action, through the six ACE elements - climate change education and public awareness, training, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation on these issues.

For more information on ACE, click here.