Irish boffins are getting ready to HACK climate change

Published by Laurie Manetta on October 19, 2016October 19, 2016

October 19th, 2016

You may have heard of a hackathon but next week some bright sparks in Dublin and Cork will taken part in the world’s first Climathon.

Two Irish events are being held as part of an international effort to get people together to problems solves the various issues caused by climate change.

You don’t have to be a computer scientist to take part so check out the link below if you are interested in taking part. This Climathon is taking place over 24 hours from Friday October 28th to Saturday October 29th.

The event in Cork will focus on agriculture while the Dublin one will focus on smart cities.

According to the website of the Cork event:

“Cork is the food capital of Ireland with its reputation for fine food and drink. Cork also sits within the “Golden Vale”, an area of tremendous agricultural productivity in Ireland. Cork City is home to the English Market with its locally sourced food and international ingredients, there is an array of unique restaurants and eateries including vegetarian and vegan, and there are food initiatives such as Food Academy and farmer’s markets with organic and local produce directly sourced from farmers. County Cork also has the highest (per county) amount of family run farms, 10% of the national total.

“On the other hand, the agricultural sector in Ireland is responsible for 30% of total country GHG emissions while the EU average is 10%. The majority of these emissions come from cattle grazing. Hence, it is clear that savings in agriculture are crucial to achieve the GHG emissions targets beyond 2020. There is also a need to create a secure food system in Ireland since as much as half of country’s food bill comes from imported products.

“In the Cork Climathon 24 hour challenge we will define together the key challenges of food and agriculture management in Cork. These could be food production, meat consumption, transport, food waste, water, organic farming, locally sources produce and food security. We will work with stakeholders across the food chain to identify key climate challenges for them and work on practical, innovative solutions that address both the climate change and food management issues in the city.

“Our approach will be trans-disciplinary and anyone is welcome to register. Places are limited so please give us a much information as possible on your skills, interests in the area of climate change, and ideas when you register as applications will be assessed to ensure an appropriate mix of skills and backgrounds in the Climathon teams.”

The website of the Dublin event explains:

“Cutting across real issues facing Dublin and its continued sustainable growth, challenges include:

“Transport/ Mobility: How do we support employees to take more sustainable transport options to and from work? Smart Dublin and daa are committed to developing tools & systems – such as improved access to data and real-time information to supporting the development of new services such as ridesharing or EVs – thus reduce congestion, commute times, parking requirements, costs, energy and emissions. These smarter options will be equally applicable to any organisation in Dublin. What are the user-focused, smarter travel options that will support employees to make more sustainable choices in their daily commute?

“Renewable Energy: Smart Dublin and Codema want to unlock the potential of Dublin’s roofs for solar power. What are the business models and technologies that could unlock this hidden potential? How do we create low carbon energy districts?

“Lighting Infrastructure: Dublin’s public lighting is about to undergo a transformation to a low energy intelligent system. What services can be built on smart infrastructure to lower energy use and carbon intensity in the city. Lighting affects everybody, how can everybody get involved? Industry-led challenges drive innovation through the development of new ideas and solutions that respond to real needs.

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”https://climathon.climate-kic.org/” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Click here to find out more about the events[/x_button]

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