4th June 2019, 19:08
The first Environment Hackathon was recently held at the University of Gibraltar. Hosted by the Department of the Environment together with the Department of Education and Advanced Leadership Foundation
The Hackathon involved students of all ages and local schools, challenging them to find a solution to the problem “How do we keep our beaches plastic free this summer?”
The event was launched at Camp Bay beach, with local experts speaking to students about the negative impacts of plastics on beaches and marine life, to better understand how this issue affects Gibraltar as well as their everyday lives. After collecting a series of images and materials from the beach, students travelled up to the University where they began a two hour ‘sprint’ to create what they believed to be the best solution for this problem in Gibraltar.
Echoing the message, “Clean seas, our future” from the NatWest International Island Games XVIII, the ideas from the Hackathon will be presented at the event in July 2019.
Split into seven groups of ages ranging from 8-19, teams worked together to produce a 5 minute pitch of their idea to present to selected judges. Ideas included a promotional campaign to raise awareness, moving recycling containers closer to the beach, making containers more visible, adding fresh water fountains to the beaches, and others.