Climathon seeks innovative solutions to urban challenges in Poland

The best ones will get funding and expert support

Next month Polish cities will be able to submit climate challenges and have the best programmers in the country develop innovative solutions to them. This will happen as part of the first “climathon” for cities (Klimaton dla Miast), organized by the Polish Development Fund and the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy.

It will take place in the form of a 48-hour programming marathon, where the winners will get 30,000 PLN (around 6,500 EUR) and expert support.

Solving climate challenges in Polish cities together

Climate neutrality of local governments is an inevitable future, reads the official website of Klimaton dla Miast. On the one hand, it is enforced by regulations, on the other - by competition, as the cities that are most efficient in coping with climate challenges will earn the satisfaction of their residents, attract specialists and develop technological facilities, and thus will increase their investment attractiveness.

Climathon for Cities thus gives local governments a chance to make an important step towards finding and implementing tailor-made solutions. Each city or urban area can submit its climate challenge in one of four thematic areas by 3 November:

• rainwater retention,
• zero-emission mobility,
• energetic efficiency,
• clean air;

while climate enthusiasts willing to put forward resolutions to these challenges can apply by 24 November. The four most interesting challenges will be selected from among the submitted applications and will be faced by development teams on 3-5 December.

The awarded cities will become partners of the climathon, which gives them access to additional expert support. During the climathon, teams of programmers, UX designers and business specialists, will propose technological solutions to the challenges.

The winners in each of the 4 categories will receive a cash prize of PLN 30,000. They will also get the chance to implement the solution with the substantive support of experts from the Polish Development Fund (PFR) - an innovative program addressed at city representatives, which provides education, consulting and financing.

“Poland's achievement of climate neutrality is a great challenge that can be achieved by tightening cooperation between state institutions, local governments, business and society, and by creating innovative solutions. In Poland, there are funds to support the implementation of new environmentally friendly technologies, but there are still too few projects worth investing in.

Through Climathon for Cities and the PFR for Cities program, we want to create a platform that connects the technological needs of local governments with people who have the appropriate knowledge and ideas. I encourage city authorities to report their climate challenges, as this is a good time to get the appropriate support in solving them.”, Paweł Borys, President of the Management Board of PFR commented on the occasion.