Call for expressions of interest in the Business4Change Hackathon - extended deadline for applications

We invite businesses and organisations to take part in the upcoming 'Business4Change hackathon'. The hackathon aims to deliver new business models and solutions to facilitate the circular economy. The event will be part of the European Business Summit’s 20th-anniversary edition focused on sustainability, scheduled to take place on the 16 and 17 November 2020 in Brussels.

What is the Business4Change Hackathon about?

We will invite young innovators with bright ideas to develop innovative business models for the circular economy, and provide businesses with sustainable solutions to issues they face when engaging in the circular economy.
Solutions will be new solutions or or new service delivery models using different product loops (e.g. sharing, repairing, reusing, remanufacturing, recycling, data sharing). They should be replicable and scalable across different sectors and countries.
Examples of potential questions that could be covered during the hackathon include 

• How to collect evidence on the durability and reparability of electronic devices?
• How to develop systems to weight reparability, durability, functional effectiveness and costs of products?

What is the objective of the call for expression of interest?

This call for expression of interest invites public and private organisations to become challenge owners in the hackathon, helping participating businesses and organisations find a concrete solution for a challenge in their transition to the circular economy. Teams from all over Europe will work on their challenge to find socially innovative and sustainable solutions, promoting new business models.

What is the role of the challenge owners?

Challenge owners are business of any size  engaged or willing to engage in the circular economy. They will 

• help define the challenges to be tackled during the hackathon, based on concrete, operational issues they are facing
• prepare the teams before the event and support them during the event
• judge the results of the hackathon and provide the winner with a non-monetary prize (e.g. incubator space, promotion at a relevant event, training, workshops, seed funding, place in an accelerator programme, mentorship, etc.)

Challenge owners will participate in the following hackathon milestones

• online introductory workshop: to discuss and fine-tune the challenges (4h in June 2020 – date to be confirmed)
• training webinars: two webinars to meet and train the teams before the event (around 6h in September 2020 – date TBC)
• Social Innovation Hackathon (2-day event): a challenge owner organisation representative supports the teams during the event, while another participates in the jury (16-17 November 2020)

Challenge owners will not receive any remuneration, nor reimbursement of accommodation or travel expenses.

How can you benefit as a challenge owner?

You can

• solve concrete business issues in your industry with the help of innovators 
• benefit from the Europe-wide promotion and visibility, highlighting your contribution to tackling issues in environment, society and economy
• participate in the annual European Business Summit, one of the largest networking and debating events in Brussels including over 2,000 participants and 200 high-level speakers

Who can apply?

Organisations should be based in or have an office in a country participating in the COSME programme. This includes all EU countries as well as some non-EU countries.

In addition, challenge owners should be available to participate in the online meetings scheduled ahead of the event and travel to Brussels on the days of the event (16-17 November 2020).