SOLVE THE GAP - 48h EU Youth Digital Hackathon

Post Event - Thank You Message   

The SOLVE THE GAP - 48h EU Youth Digital Hackathon was granted the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel patronage.

  Why?

Portugal is holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January to June 2021, as part of the Trio Presidency of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia. 

Within this framework, the Portuguese Ministry of Education and the Portuguese National Youth Council are engaged in the implementation of the EU Youth Dialogue and in organizing the EU Youth Conference in Portugal (12th-15th March). The EU Youth Dialogue is a European process that aims at consulting young people on policy topics that affect their lives and put them in a direct dialogue with policy and decision-makers. The topic of the 8th Cycle is Youth Goal #9 “Space and Participation for All” under the title “Europe for YOUth - YOUth for Europe: Space for Democracy and Participation”.

Taking stock of this topic, a 48 hours digital hackathon will be organised as a side event of the EU Youth Conference in Portugal, from 12th March, at 00:00, to 13th March, at 23:59 (WET). This activity seeks to foster and support the development of innovative digital solutions, led by young people living in Europe, to tackle the barriers they find daily in participating in democratic political decision-making processes.

  The challenge

Young developers, social innovators and youth participation enthusiasts, organised in teams, are challenged to propose in 48 hours a digital tool aiming at boosting young people’s participation by tackling 1 of 5 challenges:

  Fight Youth Vote Abstention in Elections 

Why do young people vote less despite being the generation that will be most impacted by the outcome of an election?

  Youth Outreach and Access to Youth-Friendly Information

Political agents, institutions, and governmental bodies are information producers and providers. But are they able to pass the message through? Do they know how to talk to and how to reach young people?

  Building Transparency and Trust in Government

Decisions that are not relatable, understandable and that are hard to follow, tend to generate disbelief and erode trust. What can the democratic institutions do to ensure that their decisions are understandable and transparent?

  Youth Engagement in Policy-Making

Rumour has it that “young people don’t engage in traditional politics”. Does this mean that young people don’t care about politics and their future at all? How can young people be consulted and involved in policy-making in a meaningful way? 

  Youth in Positions of Power

Youth is often considered a liability because it is linked to inexperience. Could this inexperience and passion be an extremely valuable currency? How should and how could young people reach positions of power in decision-making processes?

   Share it with EU Youth Conference

It's a side event to EU Youth Conference, and you will have the opportunity to share ideas, concepts and interact with its participants. Find more about it here. It will gather young bright minds from all over Europe!

  Make a positive impact on our society

Besides the monetary prize, the winning team will have support to develop their project and the opportunity to implement it in the European Youth Portal. 

Also, EU Institutions and State members will be encouraged to share it as good example of youth capability and power!

   Who Can be an Innovator?

Young people (up to 30 years old) living in a EU Member State, who are interested in creating a digital tool, that can be used to fight the barriers found by young people in participation and democracy.

The challenge is open to teams based in any EU Member State or across several ones. A team can be composed of a minimum of 3 people and a maximum of 6. 

The register of individual participants is allowed, but they will have to join a Team to participate in the Challenge - you can use the matchmaking tool here in the TAIKAI platform.