Team Continua is a hacker group especially put togheter by professor Antorweep Chakravorty at the University of Stavanger for the Hackathon conducted in Hack the Climate. The group consist of professors, data scientists, students and a business developer. They rose to the challenge presented by Stavanger and Setesdal in this European green shift project.
Norwegian municipalities are struggling with water pollution resulting from the use of fertilizers in agriculture. One answer to this challenge will be to use new technologies to monitor, control and reduce pollution related to agricultural activities. The solution created by the Continua team is based on a model for predicting fertilizer runoff from the field based on the weather forecast and includes modules enabling the transfer of this information to users – an alert system and a map.
The Hack the Climate project represents a significant step towards collective efforts to protect the environment and combat climate change. By combining forces, exchanging knowledge, and leveraging modern technologies, municipalities have the opportunity to effectively counteract the negative effects of climate change and create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future for future generations.
Climate change establishes new challenges to local authorities in relation to energy consumption, water quality, resource management and urban mobility. As part of the Hack the Climate project; Nordic Edge and the Polish Development Fund have organized this digital hackathon, preceded by a workshop for the involved municipalities, and the project will culminate in a showcase during Nordic Edge Expo 2024.
“We spent time preparing ourselves and finding hypotheses. There are clear gaps in the challenge from Stavanger and Setesdal, so we thought this must have been solved before…Then it turned out it wasn’t. That’s when we had an opportunity to quickly create a good solution that could have an impact on the farming community and our environment.
Our main goal is to provide farmers with better data to make informed decisions. Therefore, it’s important to present this data visually in a way that makes it easy to understand for those who will actually use the solution.” – Morten Helgaland from Team Continua
The recent days has been filled with creativity, inspiration, and remarkable ideas during the Hackathon in Hack The Climate. In the upcoming months these ideas will contribute to address challenges posed by cities during the Hack the Climate hackathon. Programmers have demonstrated their ability to leverage technology in the battle against climate change. After the successful implementation of the created applications its expected a reduction in CO2, reduced water pollution, and greater involvement of citizens in the fight against climate change.
During the past weekend, from November 24 to 26, over 100 programmers, data analysts, UX designers, as well as representatives of cities and experts gathered in one virtual space. They worked together on solving climate challenges posed by Setesdal and Stavanger, Bieruń, Rzeszów, as well as Sulejówek. After the service design workshops in October, conducted by representatives of Nordic Edge, the cities were well-prepared to collaborate with innovators.
Including Team Continua here are the three other winners:
The Bills
Bieruń wants to listen to the voice of residents and create one platform for effective communication. From the beginning, the city’s goal was to prepare the local economy and community for the upcoming changes related to the move away from mining. The key to the success of this transformation is improving contact with city institutions and involving residents in the process of designing urban space. The solution proposed by the winning team of The Bills is an interactive map of Bieruń, i.e. an online platform through which residents will be able to obtain more information about the planned investments and will be able to express their opinions. The implementation of the platform will result in greater involvement of residents and will allow the city to operate more efficiently in response to emerging local challenges.
Green City Initiative
Rzeszów will encourage residents to use ecological means of transport to reduce traffic jams and CO2 emissions. After implementing the application, the residents of Rzeszów will receive a package of information in one place regarding the selection of the most efficient route, taking into account time, weather conditions and air pollution. Thanks to the implemented gamification, users will be able to earn more points when they choose public transport instead of a car when the air quality is poor. Advanced data analytics presented by the Green City Initiative team brings benefits for the city, which will be able to use data on residents’ preferences regarding their activity at specific hours, days or in specific sections.
HotDots
Sulejówek will take care of green areas in the city. The city asked for an estimate of the value of trees to make it easier to convince residents to minimize cutting down and at the same time make it easier for officials to manage greenery in the city. The solution presented by the HotDots team is based on 4 complementary modules facilitating the identification of trees, estimating their value, and a module regarding their felling. Implementing the solution will make it easier for officials to work with geospatial data and streamline the decision-making process. Importantly, residents will also have the opportunity to increase their awareness and better prepare for the process of cutting down trees on their property, perhaps immediately planning new plantings to balance CO2 absorption.
The hackathon was another activity under the Hack the Climate program, which Nordic Edge has implemented together with our partners in the Polish Development Fund.
By the end of April 2024, the winning teams have time to implement solutions in cities, for which they will receive a prize of 10,000. euro. You will be able to read a summary of the activities carried out during the Nordic Edge Expo, which will take place on May 7-8, 2024 in Stavanger, as well as in a joint publication describing green technologies for cities.
