Hakkathon South Iceland

16 October 2020 - 18 October 2020

The main reason for hosting hackathons is to involve and activate the younger generation to come up with innovative ideas on a sustainable future for food. The objective is to build awareness around the subject and inspire individuals and communities to initiate local and rural job opportunities. We partnered up with the start-up company Hacking Hekla.

Nine teams participated and fifteen mentors from various industries and organizations were available to all teams. The judging criteria were based on how well the project solved a food related problem in South Iceland, how it impacted sustainability, how realistic it was, how original the idea was, the composition of the team and the quality of the presentation.

Several ideas evolved around local knowledge centers on sustainability and collaboration between farmers and local community. This would help change mindsets and create movements focusing on sustainability and local opportunities. However, the funding and operational cost needed more consideration.

The projects were:

1st prize Ó-Mangó. A cellular agricultural technology to grow tropical fruit in Iceland. A cost effective and nutritionally diverse method for improving the diet of Icelanders while also eliminating reliance on long and increasingly unstable global supply chains. As climate change accelerates, cellular agriculture technologies will be a key step to reducing Iceland’s carbon footprint and ensuring long-term food security, without sacrificing consumer desire for healthy tropical fruits.

2nd prize Bringing back the milkman. Focused on accessibility of locally grown food and climate friendly distribution. Bringing producers, home cooks chefs and consumers closer enhancing local consumption in a sustainable way.

Food ethic educational center. An educational center with international recognition that generates knowledge to care for the sustainable cycle of sowing, growing, harvesting, cooking, feeding, and disposing of waste with the goal of regenerating our ecosystem.

Pop-up farmers market. A common platform and calendar for all pop-up markets for local farmers in order to reach out to a larger consumer market.

Feed your mind in a greenhouse. The aim is to raise awareness of the value of growing organically and the importance of diverse, local, nutrient-rich crops by turning greenhouses into places not only of production but also education and research.

A center for eco-innovation (Græðandi). A supportive eco education center to utilize technology and develop a cultural movement that supports a sustainable and regenerative future. Local and international collaboration is one of the key factors.

Sustainable small greenhouses for schools (Ávöxtun). Building, selling, and servicing small greenhouses for kindergartens and elementary schools. The purpose is to educate and motivate pupils to grow their own vegetables in their school environment to use for themselves and to sell to the community.

Homegrow. A digital education platform to connect food growing communities, empowered by sensors and a peer learning community to design and build a home-based food growing system. The idea is to start a food cultural movement and contribute to a more sustainable future.

Leftovers to go (Leifur Arnar). An app that enables companies which have problems with food waste to be more efficient. The food will get a second chance to reach the consumer rather than ending up in landfills. The companies will have a new source of income while reducing their carbon footprint.

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