Green Leadership Hackathon “Tīri.Labi.Apritē.” (“Clean.Good.Circular”)
On December 4, Vidzeme Technology and Design Vocational School (VTDT) in Priekuļi, Latvia, hosted the hackathon “Clean.Good.Circular”, organized by VTDT in collaboration with the Erasmus+ project “Baltic Green Leadership”, the Cēsis Municipality, and the NGO “Zaļā brīvība”.
This event brought together 20 teams – a total of 100 young people from schools in the Cēsis region – who accepted the challenge of addressing sustainability issues, focusing on two main topics: “Reusing Items” and “Reducing Food Waste”.
For more than 10 hours, the participants actively worked on developing ideas aimed at promoting sustainable thinking and practical solutions. At the end of the day, each team presented their work to a jury. This was particularly challenging, as the presentations were held in English – a requirement for selecting the top three teams to participate in the international Erasmus+ Baltic Green Leadership hackathon. To ensure the most accurate winner selection, both semifinals and finals were held, where the best ideas and teams were announced:
Top 3 Teams and Their Green Ideas:
- 1st Place – €750 in “Rifs” swimming pool gift cards and a ticket to the international hackathon:
Team “Apītes” (Estere Pūle, Zane Miķelsone, Alise Mizga, Arina Mironova) from Draudzīgā Aicinājuma Cēsu State Gymnasium and Priekuļi Elementary School with their idea “Book Covers that Support Sustainability”. - 2nd Place – €500 in “Rifs” swimming pool gift cards and a ticket to the international hackathon:
Team “Mazie Poniji” (Ralfs Glaudiņš, Rauls Dugans, Viesturs Kulakovs, Reinis Beinars, Jānis Ločmelis) from VTDT, with their idea “Furniture Recycling”. - 3rd Place – €250 in “Rifs” swimming pool gift cards and a ticket to the international hackathon:
Team “Baked” (Oskars Engelss, Kristers Skrastiņš, Aksels Brempelis, Markuss Šmits) from VTDT, with their idea “An app where people can post their unwanted things/trash that others might find useful”.
Special Tasks and Awards
To keep the participants energized and creative throughout the day, delicious snacks were provided – with the pizzas from café “Pagrabiņš” being a particular favorite. However, reusing pizza box packaging became an additional challenge, with teams addressing the task, “What to do with pizza boxes?”.
The special award for this task – €100 in “Pagrabiņš” gift cards – went to the team “Šokolādes piena spēks” (Eduards Zelčs, Kristers Kļaviņš, Jānis Bramanis, Rinalds Tensbergs) from VTDT, with their idea of creating fire starters from used pizza boxes, cut into square shapes and soaked in wax instead of artificial lighter fluid.
Other Special Awards
Several teams received special awards from the event’s amazing supporters:
Cēsis Municipality’s Special Award – Gift cards to the restaurant “Pavāru Māja Līgatnē” were awarded to the team “Čefi” (Katrīna Ļubinska, Krista Zvilna, Viktorija Smirnova, Ivars Svars, Kristians Vanka) from VTDT, with their idea “Creating a system to connect social services with restaurants/cafés/households that might have leftover food”.
Cēsis Business Club (Cēsu uzņēmēju klubs) Surprise Award went to the team “Apelsīni” (Emīls Goba, Krists Kārlis Grundmanis, Mārcis Kļaviņš, Rainers Peizums, Arnis Razuvānovs) from VTDT, with their idea to “Improve disposable vape recycling by creating new products from them”.
Audience Choice Award from NGO “Zaļā brīvība” was given to the team “Cenzētie” (Dāniels Puzulis, Daniels Mežulis, Daniels Ilmārs Baškers) from VTDT, for their idea of the “Ingridease app” – “Using ingredients from your fridge before they spoil to reduce food waste”.
Mentors and Jury
Each team had a mentor who guided and motivated the participants throughout the event. Special thanks go to mentors Agnese Pumpure, Jānis Palkavnieks, Toms Stālmanis, Sintija Pētersone, Aigars Uplejs, and Toms Madžulis from Draugiem Group Mentors Club; Terēze Stālmane, Juris Čudo, Marta Antonova, Liene Baltus, and Judīte Plendišķe from VTDT; and Aleksandrs Ļubinskis from Cēsis Municipality.
The jury, consisting of experienced professionals, evaluated the ideas. Special thanks go to Elīna Sprūde Nesenberga from AS “CleanR Group”, Sandija Svarupa from the Ministry of Climate and Energy, Andrejs Bušenko from Cēsis Business Club, Zane Pīpkalēja from the Cēsis Municipality, Kristiāna Bumbiere from “Zero Waste Latvia”, Inta Ādamsone from the Cēsis Environmental Department, Anna Liene Brokāne from Cēsis Youth Council, and Valters Kinna from NGO “Zaļā brīvība”.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the event’s supporters: the Latvian Environmental Protection Fund, “CleanR Group”, the European Commission Representation in Latvia, the Erasmus+ program funded by the European Commission, the LIFE Integrated Project “Waste as a Resource in Latvia”, Cēsis Business Club, and Draugiem Group Mentors Club.
Special thanks to the event’s moderator, Emīls Lukjanskis, for creating an excellent atmosphere!
This hackathon was not only filled with challenges but also proved to be a creative and inspiring event, showcasing young people’s ability to generate innovative ideas and think sustainably. A fantastic day that demonstrates – together, we can move towards a sustainable future!
