It’s that time of the year again! We are shifting back into gear for Climathon 2021.
Dear Climathon Community,
It’s that time of the year again! We are shifting back into gear for Climathon 2021. Our Climathon Team is excited to kick off another season of innovation and citizen-led climate action with you: our amazing organisers, partners, participants and supporters.
This newsletter is packed with interesting content you won’t want to miss. In this edition, you will find an analysis of the 2020 Climathon global trends, tips from a 5-time Climathon organiser, and more!
Interested in hosting a Climathon in your community? We're here to support you every step of the way! Click below to learn more.
Global trends emerge from citizens’ solutions at
Climathon 2020
Did your Climathon 2020 solution involve leveraging data? Was it an application or web-based platform? Chances are the answer is yes.
Of the 500+ solutions generated by citizens, the vast majority implemented rewards schemes or gamification to positively affect individual behaviour, involved peer-to-peer exchanges, or contributed to the post-pandemic green recovery.
A deep dive into the data revealed similar climate challenges tied to specific geographical regions. Our analysis suggests continental trends stretching all four corners of the globe:
Q. How did you become interested in climate change? A. Many, many years ago, I obtained my master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Management from Lund University. But at that time, climate change was not in focus like it is today. I’ve been working in climate policy and action implementation for about 10 years, starting at the regional government level and now at the municipality level.
Q. How did you get involved with Climathon? A. I started my job as a city coordinator where I was involved in a big EU proposal that laid the foundation for +CityxChange (Positive City ExChange), a smart city project that aims to establish 100% renewable energy regions by 2050. I had the feeling we needed to tap into the aspect of citizen engagement and I found Climathon’s approach to be very relevant to this need.
Q. What is your best advice for other local organisers participating this year? A. My best advice for new local organisers is to find the local relevance in your challenge. Try to make it attractive to citizens and bring it down to their level. Ask yourself: Why is this interesting to them?
In the current pandemic situation, nearly all events have moved online. But once lockdown measures lift, we expect around 80% of business travel to resume. Can we keep this percentage even lower?
Inspired by traditional air miles for plane travel, AirSmiles are a scheme to incentivize people to choose online events over in-person ones. Earn AirSmiles by joining an event online and redeem them with local businesses such as restaurants, co-working spaces or hotels, or sustainability projects such as tree planting or guided nature tours.
Solution submitted by Ben Krikler, Gregory Reynolds, Diana Duong, Valeria Grevoka at Climathon Geneva 2020
