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 From the 26th to 27th of November 2022, the two-day “Climathon Chania 2022”, under the Erasmus+ project “nEU Citizenship,” took place in Chania, Crete. This Climathon was the fourth out of seven events under the KA1 Erasmus+ program, co-funded by the Erasmus+ of the European Union and the Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation (INEDIVIM).

The event was held at the Mikis Theodorakis Theatre. It was co-organized by Ecogenia, Youthmakers Hub, and  EIT Climate-KIC Hub Greece at “Athena” Research Center. It is noted that the municipality of Chania supported the Climathon Chania 2022. The main aim of this 2-day Climathon was for young members of the Greek community to participate in a marathon of ideas to come up with sustainable solutions on how to tackle environmental challenges in their city. In particular, the 3 main challenges were: sustainable transportation, eco-tourism, and waste management. The teams’ mentors were Marilena Maragkou, co-founder and Program Coordinator of Youthmakers Hub, and Spyridoula Loukopoulou, Project and Partnerships Manager of Youthmakers Hub.

On the first day of the event, participants were divided into groups and were introduced to the Climathon’s structure and the challenges they had to face. In the meantime, our workshop leaders gave the participants some useful advice on how to proceed with the implementation of their ideas. The first workshop was about the circular economy, presented by Natassa Triantafyllidou, Climate change and Sustainability Manager of V Group. The second workshop was about sustainable transportation, which was held by TUC eco racing, a voluntary group of students. The third workshop was on sustainable tourism, explained by Zoe Nowak, Marketing and Business Development Manager at Soil Food Web School. The fourth workshop was about Sustainable Development Goals, hosted by Stella Apostolakis, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Executive Director of the Center of Excellence in Sustainability at the American College of Greece. At the same time, the mentors helped the groups express their ideas with constructive tips. The first day closed with participants working in groups after they had received knowledge, information, and feedback on their ideas.

The event’s second day started with a workshop on Communication & Pitching by Youthmakers Hub‘s Communications Lead, Georgia-Anna Chondrou, advising participants on how to present their ideas to the audience and the judges. Afterward, they started to put their idea into action creating their SlideShare, logo, and brand name for their pitching. At the end of the event, they presented their possible solutions to the challenges they were responsible for. The judges were: Manolis Papadakis, Head of Experience Design at Vivid Vibes and Vice President at ΚΕΠΠΕΔΗΧ-ΚΑΜ, Lydia Papadaki, Doctor candidate at Athens University of Economics and Business and Co-Manager of EIT Climate-KIC Hub Greece, and Erika Spagakou, co-founder of Ecogenia.

Even though all the teams presented an innovative and sustainable solution, the judges concluded with the following ranking:

1. Thought for Food (with the challenge of waste management). Their idea was to reduce food waste from hotels and supermarkets by distributing the remaining food to civil society organizations or composting it. The award was a trip to Athens to attend a workshop on how to apply for an ESC project, a free pass to EU-Opportunities Seminars, and a 20% discount on the European Youth Card.
2. Ecommodation (with the challenge of eco-tourism). The team’s idea was to educate hotel staff on sustainability practices and offer hotels sustainability certification. The award was a free pass to EU-Opportunities Seminars and a 20% discount on the European Youth Card.
3. Ecospace App (with the challenge of eco-tourism). The team’s main idea was to create an app including all of the hotels that use sustainable ways and propose eco-tourism opportunities. The award was a 20% discount on the European Youth Card and 2 sustainable cups provided by V Group.
4. 2Brains (with the challenge of sustainable transportation). This team came up with the idea to reduce CO2 emissions in the city center of Chania. On the model of a “15-minute city,” Chania citizens could move around the city with electric bikes, scooters, and buses. The award was a 20% discount on the European Youth Card.

At the end of the event, there was a closure giving special thanks to our participants, judges, workshop leaders, and sponsors.

Find out more here.

You can see more photos of the event here.

You can read the PR of the event in Greek here.