Climathon Dhaka 2019 opens doors of opportunities for the youth

On October 25 and 26 2019, over 122 cities started a solutions hackathon, aimed to tackle local climate challenges. The hackathon, which marked Global Climathon Day, is a part of Climathon, a global yearlong programme initiated by EIT Climate-KIC, to mobilise cities and citizens to take climate actions, together.

Climathon took place in over 122 cities worldwide. It brought together entrepreneurs, students, programmers and policy makers to work on new and creative solutions for local climate issues.

To tackle climate change and its devastating effects, the participants worked on the problems of Dhaka and formulated ideas to solve them with the help of mentors, coaches and experts from corporate, development and government organisations. The hackathon ran for more than 24 hours, in accordance with global rules.  The jury board awarded the best ideas at the end of the programme.

This year, participants from Dhaka focused on solving the issues of food safety, waste management and energy consumption. Particularly, they presented proposals for making contamination-free food available in Dhaka, bringing positive behavioural changes in citizens to build an energy efficient city and changing daily behaviours to make Dhaka clean and efficient with waste management.

Climathon Dhaka identified local climate challenges in close collaboration with related stakeholders. The winning ideas will be incubated by Center for Entrepreneurship, BRAC University.

The programme was organised by Gen Lab, in partnership with IPDC Finance, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Torun Digital, Colours FM 101, JCI Dhaka North, BNO Lubricants, Save and Serve Foundation, Center for Entrepreneurship Development at BRAC University, Center for Sustainable Development at ULAB and International Center for Climate Change and Development. Independent University, Bangladesh, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) and Green Savers Association were also partners of the event. The winning teams were: Zero Tech, Waste Fixers and NIkhad.

Gen Lab aims to create a platform for the Bangladeshi youth to engage in the social development of the country by means of acting together to bring about positive changes. Sustainability is one of the essential values of Gen Lab and it resonates in the organisation's concern for bringing changes that would positively affect the lives of the future generations.

Waseqa Ayesha Khan, Member of Parliament, Chattogram, was the chief guest at the opening ceremony. Khurshid Alam, Asst Country Director, United Nations Development Programme, Dr Saleemul Haque, Director, International Center for Climate Change and Development, Independent University of Bangladesh, and Professor Rahim B Talukdar, Advisor, Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, were also present. Talukdar has been the Vice Chancellor of Eastern University.

The speakers expressed their concerns about climate change and discussed how Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change. They spoke about the role of young changemakers in battling the issue. Khurshid Alam encouraged the youth to come up with innovative solutions.

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam was the chief guest of the closing ceremony. Shamim Ehsanul Haque, Assistant Professor and Research Fellow, Center for Entrepreneurship, BRAC University and Momin U Islam, CEO and Managing Director, IPDC Finance, were also present. Nahim Razzaq, Member of Bangladesh Parliament, was the Young Ambassador for Climathon Dhaka 2019.

Mayor Atiqul Islam awarded each of the winning teams BDT 25,000 at the closing ceremony. He also awarded the return airfare to the team which will be selected to attend the global finale in Paris, France. He further spoke about his high hopes for the youth of Bangladesh and their work towards a cleaner, safer and greener Dhaka.