Centre, Amazon.in and Pi Jam Foundation team up to launch ‘Eco-Hackathon’, details here
The ‘Eco Creativity and Innovation Hackathon’ aligns with PM Narendra Modi's LiFE campaign which is aimed at enabling young minds to solve environmental issues.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Govt. of India has teamed up with Amazon.in and Pi Jam Foundation to launch an ‘Eco Creativity and Innovation Hackathon’ on Thursday, September 26, 2024.
The objective of the Eco-Hackathon is to empower students to become eco-problem solvers through technology and creativity.
As part of the program, school students from classes 6th to 12th from government schools have been invited to participate across 14 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka, a press release informed.
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Kriti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Ministry of External Affairs, highlighted that the Eco Creativity and Innovation Hackathon is an environment education program under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's LiFE campaign which seeks to ignite passion amongst young minds to solve environmental issues.
“We encourage and invite creative solutions to tackle pressing environmental problems, whether at home, in their neighbourhood, or on a global scale. This hackathon will improve their problem-solving capabilities by puzzle solving and thinking out of the box,” Singh added.
Akshay Kashyap, India Lead at Amazon Future Engineer Program, expressed delight at collaborating with the Ministry and Pi Jam Foundation to host the Eco-Hackathon, which he said is a step towards encouraging students from diverse regions across India to think creatively and develop solutions to some of the most pressing environmental issues of present time.
Pranjali Pathak, Partnerships Lead at Pi Jam Foundation stated that hackathon engages students in gamified, sustainability-focused activities by combining environmental education with digital innovation.
“Powered by our Code Mitra platform and supported by Amazon Future Engineer, we have reached over 4 lakh participants and received nearly 2 lakh innovative ideas,” Pathak added.
Application process
Students are allowed to submit only one application, although there is no restriction on the number of applications that can be submitted from a particular school.
Students can submit their application under various themes including Save Energy, Say No to single use of plastic, save water, adopt sustainable food system, reduce waste, adopt a healthy lifestyle, and reduce e-waste.
To apply, students need to register and sign up at codemitra.org/eco-life.
Following this, students will need to watch the video prompted on their screens complete the activities as directed, and then submit a problem statement under the given themes on the environment and its solution.
Participants will be provided with video content explaining the life themes and block-based coding projects to help them develop ideas.
Initially, the participants will need to submit a detailed idea of the solution. The prototype development will be required in the later stages for shortlisted finalists.
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Once shortlisted, the finalists will be provided with adequate materials, mentorship, and supervision for creating projects showcasing the implementation of their ideas.
Notably, Amazon and Pi Jam will award top winners across three categories namely Class 6th to 8th, Class 9th to 12th, and UG & PG students at an event in Delhi.
