Peace and Democracy

• How might we, as citizens, foster peace-building via positive messaging within communities? Focusing on street art as a means of expression, how can we together with local artists and citizens create an environment conducive to constructive dialogue and social change?

Challenge-giver: EC2U Think Tank Team (Poitiers, France)

• How might we leverage digital platforms and gamification to revolutionize civic education, making it more engaging and impactful for young people? Specifically, how can we create a draft plan for creating interactive experiences (for instance a dedicated app, a platform, a role-playing game) that simulate democratic processes, facilitate understanding of peace and democracy principles, and encourage active participation in civic life? The goal is to empower users with a deeper understanding of their role in a democratic society and the importance of peace, thereby fostering a more informed, engaged, and active citizenry for the future.

Challenge-giver: ELEVA Digital Development Agency (Pavia, Italy)

• How might we increase European citizenship and a sense of belonging to the EU amongst EC2U student community? Which concrete actions, initiatives, and creative solutions could we design as an alliance to give our contribution to this crucial issue for the EU democratic and participative life?

  Over the years, political participation has evolved, especially among young people, very often taking new shapes: non-conventional forms of activism (such as engagement in the digital sphere, clicktivism’, grassroots activities, and boycotts) have become commonplace.

  Notwithstanding, there is still a long way to go in engaging a growing number of young European citizens in EU democratic life and making them aware of the importance of raising their voices, giving their say in the EU political direction and making their opinion heard on crucial current common challenges (from climate change policies to foreign policy, from AI to migratory movements)

Challenge-giver: : International Mobility unit – University of Pavia (Pavia, Italy)

 

Diversity and Inclusion

• How might we bring together people of different ages and backgrounds in a way that increases solidarity and inclusion? It might be digital or material solutions.The aim of Kupittaa Partnership Project (Kupittaa Core) Point is to provide meeting places for people. Bringing together people of different ages and backgrounds is one of the key aspects of the project. We address, among other things, discrimination, loneliness, and social exclusion. Furthermore, we support encounters that enhance the vitality of the city and the emergence of innovations.

Challenge-giver: City of Turku (Turku, Finland)

• In the context of the European elections, how can access to voting polls be facilitated for Europeans with disabilities?

Challenge-giver: Europe Direct, Info Jeunes Nouvelle Aquitaine (Poitiers, France)

 

Wellbeing and Happiness

• How can young people’s mental health be better considered?

Challenge-giver: Europe Direct, Info Jeunes Nouvelle Aquitaine (Poitiers, France)

• How can physical activity be incorporated into a general health promotion approach and be integrated into all living spaces?

Challenge-giver: Chaire Sport Santé (Poitiers, France)

• The inclusion of games in education. How might we motivate teachers to make their courses more playful? More specifically, shifting the focus of their classes from knowledge transfer, to exploration and discovery. Moreover, looking not only within formal education systems, but also beyond school.

Challenge-giver: Diego Alatorre, PhD Student (University of Coimbra)

 

Peace and Democracy

• How to strengthen the digital literacy of the population, with a view to identifying and combating false information that is often massively disseminated through social media, which is often used to influence (through lies) public opinion on a certain subject.

Challenge-giver: Institute of Interdisciplinary Research Team (University of Coimbra)

 

Wellbeing and Happiness

• New public policies or educational programmes to promote healthy eating habits and physical activity from an early age, while also considering effective measures to combat food waste, such as those conducted on a daily basis by the big food retail companies in Portugal.

Challenge-giver: Institute of Interdisciplinary Research Team (University of Coimbra)

• How can digital technologies and innovation be agents for combating the isolation of rural populations, for example in terms of access to health care, medicines, therapies, among others, apart from combating loneliness through classic social media and/or communication technologies?

Challenge-giver: Instituto Pedro Nunes, Coimbra

 

Diversity and Inclusion

• How to make citizens, retailers and policy makers aware of gender-based price discrimination. The best-known type of gender discrimination is the pay gap between women and men, but few people realise that not only do women earn less than men, on average, they also pay more for certain products and/or services. This discrimination is often perpetuated by governments that apply higher import taxes to women’s products, making them more expensive. For example, certain personal hygiene products such as shampoo and waxing/shaving razors, but also services such as haircuts and laundry services that charge different prices for women’s and men’s clothes.

Challenge-giver: Pâmela Aguiar, PhD Student and Gender@UC Project Manager

• Which role can the University and/or Governmental Organisations play in preventing school failure among basic level students living in socio-economically underprivileged conditions?

Challenge-giver: EqualSteam Project Team

• How can gender inequality in leadership positions be reduced in order to achieve greater parity in organisations in the Coimbra region?

Challenge-giver: Ana Carvalho, Researcher (University of Coimbra)

 

Nature and sustainability

• How could we, as citizens, extend and protect green areas all around the city – home parks, streets, job places, own house? How can we educate people to love and protect nature, preserve it clean and beautiful?

Challenge-giver: Civica + RI4C2 WP5 team Iasi

• How can we find the best urban regeneration solutions – for old industrial buildings, for poorer areas near the city, for ugly old apartment blocks?

Challenge giver: Iulius Group

 

Wellbeing and Happiness

• How can we find better transportation solutions, to decongest traffic,reduce time spent in traffic, reduce pollution?

Challenge-giver: RI4C2 WP5 team Iasi

 

Peace and Democracy

• How can we increase civic participation, for all city issues? How can we educate citizens to be active, raise questions, suggest solutions for the city’s challenges?

Challenge-giver: Civica

Diversity and Inclusion

• How can the city be made physically and socio-culturally accessible? Our society is facing the major challenge that people’s living environments are becoming increasingly divergent. We can only overcome this if there are conditions in which people with different abilities can meet. How can this be achieved?

Challenge-giver: Bärbel Kracke, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Jena

 

• Community Outreach Bike “Digitalization”. With our special bike, we want to create inclusive future education spaces especially on on digital skills and technologies. Specifically, a low-threshold opportunity to try out devices and applications. The aim is to reach many citizen to acquire basic digital skills.
  How can this bike be technically equipped and decorated? E.g. with sustainable power supply, wifi, etc.
  How can different target groups be approached? And how can offers be made interactive?

Challenge-giver: Volkshochschule Jena

 

Nature and Sustainablity

• How might we raise awareness for the importance of trees in our city, especially for the local climate and protection against heat stress?

  Climate change is causing heatwaves to occur much more frequently than in the past. The architecture of cities intensifies the heat and leads to heat stress for people. Trees that provide shade, green façades and roofs, and smaller parks cool by casting shade and by evaporation from the leaves.

Challenge-giver: Bettina Böhm, Research Associate in Geoinformation Science, Uni Jena

 

• In order to preserve local and global quality of life, we need to meet the climate targets. How might we convince people of drastic changes such as a car-free city center in Jena? Using the example of a car-free city center, how exactly could it be designed? Which people will be excessively negatively affected by these changes and how can we ensure that acceptable solutions are found for them while still pursuing the climate targets?

Challenge-giver: Laura Brock, Klimaschutzmanagement, Uni Jena

 

Peace and Democracy

• How could we use the data from the WISSENsallmende (Urban Data Platform of the City of Jena) and its intelligent linking with other information on the city’s websites to solve problems for citizens, answer questions and create added value for science and business? The City of Jena’s Urban Data Platform (UDP) can be found at https://wissensallmende.jena.de. The UDP contains many datasets as well as real-time and sensor data. Further information can also be found on the city’s website, mainly in text form and as download files. What added value could combining and processing the various data sources through an intelligent chat system offer for citizens, science and business?

Challenge-giver: Stefan Schwarz, Stadtverwaltung Jena, als Teil des Smart City Projekts

Diversity and Inclusion

• In our country, there is also a gap in the ratio of men to women in the labour market. One in five women leave the labour market as a result of motherhood. This last aspect is of particular relevance as an indication of the difficulty for women to balance family and work life.
  Being well understood that this situation requires huge and structural measures to be solved at a systemic and national level, how might we facilitate families to find a work-life balance that allows especially women to regain an active work life after moderhood? For example in the city of Pavia, how can public institutions and public companies support mothers in coming back to work and to sustain a good work-life balance?

Challenge-giver: Municipality of Pavia

• The gender-related safety and security (real or perceived) of Italian University campuses is an issue.
  According to a recent study carried out in Italy by UDU (Unione degli Universitari) concerning this matter, 20.5% of respondents think that these are not safe spaces, while 34.5% have heard of cases of harassment or violence within University premises.
  How might we contribute to making our campus a safe space for everybody? Which concrete actions can be put in place to advocate for systemic, structural measures on this side, as well as to raise awareness on the importance of respect, non–discrimination and inclusiveness in our university?

Challenge-giver: Union of University Students, Pavia

 

Wellbeing and Happiness

• As indicated in the Statement of the European Students’ Union and Erasmus Student Network on Housing and Transport, ‘Housing is an essential part of a student’s life, as without this basic need being fulfilled, there is no capacity to study’. The student housing situation in Europe is facing increasing challenges, which are not just the result of the Covid-19 pandemic and of the recent inflation surge but are ingrained in long-term trends.
  This is particularly relevant for international mobile students since temporary stays are even more affected by the current crisis, the transient nature of student exchanges, typically lasting for one or two semesters, discouraging landlords from offering contracts to students.Being well understood that this situation requires huge and structural measures to be solved at a systemic level, which innovative solutions or approaches can be suggested to ease the existing situation or to advocate for innovative solutions to this problem? How could these innovative solutions be applied, for example, in the city of Pavia?

Challenge-giver: International Mobility Unit – University of Pavia

 

Nature and Sustainability

• Sustainability in cosmetics and better management of post-use cosmetic packaging is the challenge. This challenge is highly relevant for the future, given the increasing awareness of environmental issues and the growing consumer demand for sustainable products. Responsible packaging management is crucial to reduce the environmental impact of plastic waste and promote more eco-friendly practices in the cosmetic industry and the consumer.How can we effectively manage the disposal of cosmetic products to ensure they are truly recyclable? What local initiatives can be implemented on a smaller scale to initiate both awareness campaigns and practical actions?

Challenge-giver: ETICHUB (Pavia private company)

Thématique Bonne santé et bien-être

• Comment mieux prendre en charge les patients face au manque de personnel à l’hôpital ?

Proposé par Néoloji, technopole Grand Poitiers

 

• Seul on va plus vite, ensemble on va plus loin. Comment impliquer les différents acteurs d’un territoire dans la co-conception de programmes de promotion de l’activité physique ?

Proposé par la Chaire Sport Santé, Fondation Poitiers Université

 

Thématique Diversité et inclusion

• Comment rendre l’espace public plus accueillant pour les jeunes femmes ?

Proposé par Europe Direct (Centre Poitiers Vienne / Deux-Sèvres), Info Jeunes Nouvelle Aquitaine

 

• Comment sensibiliser dès le plus jeune âge au sujet du consentement et à la prévention des comportements problématiques pouvant engendrer des violences sexuelles ?

Proposé par l’association Le P’tit Prince

 

Thématique Nature et développement durable

• Comment encourager l’engagement des jeunes autour des enjeux climatiques et environnementaux ?

Proposé par Europe Direct (Centre Poitiers Vienne / Deux-Sèvres), Info Jeunes Nouvelle Aquitaine

 

• Comment adapter nos modes de vie pour limiter la dégradation de la biodiversité et ses conséquences sur la vie humaine ? (ex : dérégulation des populations d’insectes qui menace la sécurité alimentaire, la santé humaine, etc…)

Proposé par Neoloji, technopole Grand Poitiers

 

• Comment collecter les eaux pluviales pour alimenter des îlots de fraîcheur urbains ?

Proposé par la Fondation Poitiers Université

 

Thématique Paix et démocratie

• Comment inciter les publics éloignés de la vie publique à prendre part aux instances de participation citoyenne ?

Proposé par Grand Poitiers

Due to USAL Rector elections on 7th of May, there will be no on-site Makeathon event in Salamanca.

However, the central Makeathon coordinators still welcome students and citizens from Salamanca to participate in the virtual European track. In this track you become part of a European team and solve a challenge online.

Diversity and Inclusion

• How might we recognize and consider the diverse values of nature in urban planning?

Challenge-giver: Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku

 

• How can we ensure equal educational opportunities for young people finishing elementary school in different areas of Finland? Every young person should have the possibility to participate in secondary education that suits their preferences, provides sufficient capabilities to succeed in the future, and offers good and fair preparation for higher education. By secondary education we refer to both high school and vocational school (ammattikoulu).
  How could high-quality secondary education be provided in small towns with few young people? Could virtual reality opportunities, new forms of social benefits, or even new types of housing arrangements help in this regard? What should be taken into account and changed to ensure that young people have equal opportunities for education regardless of where they live?

Challenge-giver: INVEST Research Flagship Centre (Turku, Finland)

 

• How might we bring together people of different ages and backgrounds in a way that increases solidarity and inclusion? It might be digital or material solutions. The aim of Kupittaa Partnership Project (Kupittaa Core) Point is to provide meeting places for people. Bringing together people of different ages and backgrounds is one of the key aspects of the project. We address, among other things, discrimination, loneliness, and social exclusion. Furthermore, we support encounters that enhance the vitality of the city and the emergence of innovations.

Challenge-giver: City of Turku

 

Wellbeing and Happiness

• According to research data, loneliness has increased significantly during past years in Finland, and in media loneliness seems to get the status of even an epidemic. Loneliness is both a personal and a societal problem because it is linked, for example, to bullying, alcoholism, health and mental health issues, as well as work-related stress. What societal measures could be taken to reduce loneliness?

Although loneliness is more common among, for example, the unemployed and the elderly, it occurs generally across all population groups, including those in relationships and those with large social networks. Loneliness is a subjective and negative experience resulting from quantitatively or qualitatively deficient relationships, thus distinguishing it from, for example, solitude, which can be a positive experience. Combating loneliness is not straightforward. It is not entirely clear whose “responsibility” it is to alleviate loneliness, and currently, many different actors, such as organizations, are striving to reduce people’s perceived loneliness.

Challenge-giver: INVEST Research Flagship Centre (Turku, Finland)

A Makeathon provides a platform for students and citizens to immerse themselves in hands-on activities. It not only encourages creative thinking and teamwork but also empowers participants to address meaningful challenges and work on innovative projects. Beyond these, it serves as a unique learning opportunity where students acquire new skills, exchange knowledge with like-minded peers from across Europe, and gain exposure to cutting-edge ideas and technologies. Participants will receive certificates of participation, recognising their dedication. As prize, there also are 8 travel scholarships to go to the University of Poitiers (France) for a few days in June, to bring the idea on a European level and to connect with likeminded students and citizens from across Europe.

The Makeathon plays a vital role in showcasing the innovative capacity of the EC2U Pan-European Knowledge Ecosystem. By bringing together stakeholders from diverse professional backgrounds, disciplines, and universities, this event fosters a collaborative environment that strengthens both local and European knowledge ecosystems. It encourages the sharing of knowledge and the creation of new ideas, strengthening the potential of the ecosystem.

Participating universities benefit significantly from the Makeathon. It provides an opportunity for these institutions to demonstrate their commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation, experimental learning, and creative problem-solving. Engagement of experts and industry professionals further enhances universities’ partnerships with local companies and organisations, reinforcing their role as hubs for cutting-edge knowledge and practical solutions.

The Makeathon attracts talented individuals from various fields, offering cities a unique opportunity to tap into a diverse pool of knowledge and skills. Beyond this, it nurtures sustainable awareness of local challenges and celebrates innovative solutions that directly benefit the community. The event not only fosters a culture of problem-solving but also strengthens the bond between cities and their inhabitants.

For local companies, the Makeathon represents an opportunity to be enablers of innovation. They can propose relevant challenges to be solved and provide guidance to participants, sharing their expertise. Additionally, the Makeathon serves as a platform for companies to connect with talented students and other actors in their city.