Montenegro’s first edition of the Climathon, a worldwide environmental competition dedicated to climate change, will be organised in Podgorica on 28 and 29 November. It will be a 24-hour-long hackathon, in which participants will propose innovative solutions to urban problems related to the climate crisis. The Montenegro Climathon is being organised by the Gnijezdo (meaning ‘nest’) NGO, under the auspices of the European Union Delegation to Montenegro and in cooperation with the City of Podgorica, Erste Bank, the Ministry of Science, the Montenegro Chamber of Commerce, the Petrović Njegoš Foundation, Telenor, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Anyone between the ages of 15 and 45 can apply and applicants are allowed to form teams of up to five members. Each team can apply with one idea, with priority given to teams with new ideas and solutions that have not been presented at and/or funded through other competitions.

So far, Climathon has been organised on six continents, in 56 countries and 145 cities. It was launched in 2015 by Climate-KIC, the environmental branch of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which is a European Union body, to enable local institution representatives to come together with citizens and jointly propose solutions to the environmental challenges that their communities face.

The Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro has decided to support this unique event in Podgorica because the fight against climate change is one of the EU’s main priorities.

“We are facing the consequences of climate change on the global, national, but also the local level. That is why it is the obligation of all of us to contribute to the fight against climate change, and the starting points can actually be events like this one. We are pleased that Climathon is now being organised in Montenegro and we are sure that it will give birth to many great ideas, which will make the capital an even better and healthier place to live,” the Delegation said.

Teams can develop educational programmes, software solutions or any new product or service which would make Podgorica a cleaner city, and which they want to implement. In addition to cash prizes, the best solutions will receive UNDP support and mentorship for the further development and implementation of ideas after the completion of the competition.