Bengaluru students showcase sustainable solutions at Green Hackathon

WeRise, a social enterprise initiated by Adhya Menda, a student of Mallya Aditi International School in association with The Energy Resource Institute (TERI) introduced Green Hackathon 2018, a platform for schools students of Bengaluru that addresses the civic issues of the city and provide innovative tech solutions to promote sustainable living in the most scalable, impactful and cost effective way.

With the overarching theme of innovative technological solutions to promote sustainable living, the event kick-started with over 500 students, from about 100 entries in Bengaluru to present innovative ideas on sustainability and natural resource management at RMZ Ecoworld, Bellandur.

Criteria for evaluation pivoted around five key environmental concerns - environmental impact, idea innovation, technical maturity, scalability and business value. The students designed and developed working model solutions which could benefit society at large. Some of these solutions were put together with the use of open data, design thinking and a change-making approach.

"The Green Hackathon is all about inspiring young school children to think about innovative technological solutions for real world community issues that bother us in our daily life. I strongly believe these young school children can contribute to building solutions to the most pressing environmental and civic problems of our times. Through this platform we want to create an opportunity for every young visionary to showcase their innovation that can make a difference in the city we live in," Adhya Menda, Founder and CEO, WeRise.

"The Green Hackathon is a project based learning strategy that enables students to grapple with present day environmental issues of Bengaluru and provides solutions to these. While doing so, it also helps students enhances their knowledge and accentuate their skill sets. The participation of schools and their effort and commitment has been commendable," Saltanat Kazi, Fellow, TERI.

The event was a representative of pockets of excellence the city's children have in store. Some of the winning solutions under the senior category include:

-First Prize was bagged by Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College for their Hack named 'CAP' - Collision Avoiding Program, A hack that picks up any obstruction on the railway track and send the range and size of animals to the nearest railway station so as to avoid wildlife being killed by trains, the same can be replicated to other modes of transport. The team received a cheque worth Rs 40,000.

-Runners up - Mahila Seva Samaj - Hack name 3S - One solution is an app that has been developed to alert water leakages for household level. The team received a cheque worth Rs 25,000.

-Consolation - Army Public School PRTC - Hack Name Hydro-matic is a hack that integrates present day hydroponic system with technology and automates actions that is required for maintaining a hydroponic garden. The team received a cheque worth Rs 15000.

In the Junior category, the winners include:

-Carmel High School who presented efficient innovation with their hack Named "SWIPE -O- USE", where RFID card is used to register the user and account the water consumption so as to bring about behavioural change. The team received a cheque worth Rs 40,000.

-National Public School, Banashankari school devised a hack titled 'transforming the way we commute', that automated the bus seat arrangements during peak hours to ensure that more commuters could travel at ease. The team received a cheque worth Rs 25,000.

-Sarvodaya National Public School designed a hack named 'Sensible' to avoid entry of wildlife in human settlement area by having an automated collapsible fencing. The team received a cheque worth Rs 15000.

The event also witnessed two (Ink Talk session for schools) conducted by Sumesh Mangalassery, Panellist, Copenhagen Climate Change, Founder of NGO Kabani and Akanksha Priyadarshini, Co- Founder and Chief Product Officer on sustainable topics that included Resilience and Sustainable communities, Sustainability in Food Revolution respectively.

The event was mentored and judged by industry experts, Jyothi Mehra, Curator, Sri. Visweshwarraiah Industrial and Technological Museum Bangalore, Janak Mistry, Design Principal Shristi School of Arts, Design and Technology, Sunil Kumar, Senior Science and Innovation advisor, British Deputy High Commission, India, Shweta Srivastava, Associate Dean, School of Environment, Law and Planning at Srishti, George Varghese, Senior Tech Consultant and Advisor for WASH, Bangalore, Dr. Shoba Anand Reddy of Indian Institute for Human Settlement, Dr. Sridhar Babu and Vijay Kumar of TERI, Jiji Thomas from RMZ Corp.