Wednesday 17 June 2015

Wellington leads the way with Climathon

Climate change; it's a big interconnected and global challenge becoming harder and harder to ignore. But opportunities for people to take action on Climate Change are growing - and Wellington is leading the way.

The upcoming ‘Climathon’ this Friday and Saturday hosted at Victoria University is an example of Wellington leading the way in Australasia on a global initiative.

This Friday and Saturday a global Climathon event will bring more than 60 people together over 24 hours to build and test urban focused solutions to Climate Change. Participants will brainstorm new initiatives, challenge their thinking, extend their current projects and form new connections. Three teams will then be selected 5 months of follow up support, mentoring and connections to help them progress their idea.

Wellington Mayor, Celia Wade-Brown, says climate change demands collaborative and creative thinking. “Climathon will push Wellington’s best thinking onto the global stage and is real opportunity for New Zealand to show leadership on a pressing global issue,” she says.

Kickstarted by Climate-KIC, the EU’s largest Climate innovation initiative, the Climathon is a global event taking place over 48 hours, with over 16 participating cities from Europe, Asia, Africa and North America taking part. Wellington is leading the way for Australasia - being the first founding city from this region.

Professor Kate McGrath, Victoria University’s Vice-Provost (Research) says the University is delighted to be hosting this important event. “Climate change is a major global challenge that many of our researchers are focusing on, so I expect plenty of innovative contributions to come from the Victoria staff and students who participate,” she says. “The best part about the Climathon is the support participants receive to turn ideas into action and make meaningful change in the world.”

Made possible by key partners Wellington City Council and Victoria University of Wellington with help from Centre for Sustainable Cities, VUWSA, Deep South Science & Viclink, the event is being delivered by Enspiral - a Wellington based network of social entrepreneurs and impact businesses.

“This is a chance for people working on projects or who have ideas around climate change to bring them together in one space, connect with others, learn together and shed new light and perspectives on their work” says Silvia Zuur lead facilitator for the event.

Climate-KIC will be selecting the best teams and ideas globally to travel to Paris to present in a global showcase at the COP21 Climate Summit this December.

It’s high tide for innovation and collaboration events in Wellington this June with several events from HINZ Health Hackathon, to Govhack to Govjam to Startup Weekend Science and Research all happening within the space of a few weeks. Great signs of a city alive and well and innovating!

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