Celebrating Innovation: Highlights from the WEkEO Hackathon on Climate Change
The WEkEO Hackathon: Data Driven Solutions to Climate Change was a fast-paced three-day event held 12-14 December 2024 in partnership with Ultrahack. This dynamic online hackathon brought together a diverse group of scientists, students, entrepreneurs, and innovators to tackle pressing climate challenges. Using Earth observation data from the WEkEO platform, participants developed solutions focused on climate resilience, environmental monitoring, and sustainable resource management.
The hackathon’s focus areas included:
Climate resilience: Creating tools to adapt to and mitigate the effects of extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts.
Environmental monitoring: Developing innovative ways to track and analyse changes in ecosystems, air and water quality, and land use.
- Sustainable resource management: Finding data-driven solutions to manage resources like water, forests, and agricultural land more efficiently, ensuring long-term sustainability in the face of climate change.
14 teams completed the hackathon, from a talent pool of over 200 applicants and nearly 50 project applications. Participants shared a variety of motivations for joining. For some, it was a chance to explore innovative solutions and enhance skills in satellite data analysis and machine learning. One participant noted, "I was hoping to delve deeper into projects I am passionate about and learn how to get people interested in them—and I’m glad to say this goal was achieved!" Others valued the opportunity to collaborate with experts and develop tangible solutions for environmental challenges.
The winning teams
The winning team, awarded 2500€, was Agroforeo, based in Croatia. This team stood out with their innovative tool for planning resilient crops through sustainable agroforestry. Their platform uses remote sensing to guide the transition from monoculture farming to diversified agroforestry systems, aimed at mitigating climate change impacts. The team explained, "Our goal was to transform the way farmers manage their land and create a future where agriculture thrives alongside nature." When asked about keys to their success, the team cited "very good teamwork," a spirit of fun, and the importance of "making a clear plan what to do at what point" and sticking to that plan. They also emphasised the uniqueness of their product and its response to a recent EU policy which opened up new market needs.
"Apart from the team and teamwork, our idea is unique. There are not many companies or similar services yet on the market. It's something new and exciting... And it is based on a new policy that just got out from the EU, which opens up new market needs." - Team Agroforeo
The runner-up team, FloodAdapt, who received 1500€, created a user-friendly tool for analysing and adapting to flood risks. By democratising access to flood risk modelling, this UK-based team empowered communities and policymakers to generate detailed flood risk and damage maps -- even without technical expertise. "Floods are one of the most devastating impacts of climate change," team FloodAdapt said, "and we wanted to offer an accessible solution for resilience."
“Our project is something that we’re really passionate about, and we plan to take it further. The WEkEO data is really good, and when you combine everything, you can get really good results and outcomes. - Team FloodAdapt
In third place, earning 1000€, team WarmWaters impressed judges with their platform for assessing the feasibility of local green hydrogen economies. The team worked together from Italy and the Netherlands. By leveraging satellite data and regional insights, the WarmWaters tool supports industries transitioning to 100% green hydrogen, driving the shift towards clean energy solutions.
“It was our team’s first hackathon and we are best friends in real life too, so the best thing was to be able to set together a team with different expertise and learn from each other and the mentors. It was fun to do something completely different.” - Team WarmWaters
Looking back at the hackathon experience
Other projects covered water conservation and quality monitoring; mapping fire risks in boreal forests; analysing climate change impacts on crops like wheat and rice; and other such important solutions. All three of the top awarded teams were also granted one year of access to computing resources from the Copernicus Innovation Lab to continue to develop their projects, and every team who competed was invited to apply to the programme.
Feedback after the event highlighted several aspects of the hackathon’s success. Participants particularly appreciated the support of mentors and the availability of WEkEO platform data. Mentors remarked, "The datasets and articles were incredibly helpful for guiding the teams and improving my own knowledge" and “This experience has been an excellent learning opportunity for me, especially in understanding the potential of the WEkEO platform.”
Many participants left the event feeling inspired and more confident in their ability to use Earth observation data to tackle real-world problems. As one attendee put it, "This hackathon pushed me to think creatively and collaborate effectively. It was an experience I won’t forget." And from the judges came the sentiment that “During the pitch session, you have demonstrated the power of collaboration and the potential of the WEkEO platform to solve real world problems.”
Overall, the WEkEO Hackathon: Data Driven Solutions for Climate Change showcased the power of innovation and teamwork in addressing pressing global challenges. With such a wealth of talent and creativity on display, the future of Earth observation solutions to mitigate climate change looks brighter than ever.
