The ENNEPlus Eco-Digithon is an educational marathon primarily targeting Vocational Education and Training (VET) centers, focused on creating and prototyping innovative digital and technological solutions to real societal and local problems.
It involves a competition within and among VET centers and/or VET teams on environmental and sustainability challenges. Indeed, the solutions developed are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring a global perspective on local challenges.
It also promotes grassroots innovation through a participatory and multidisciplinary approach as it engages not only VET centers but also stakeholders, policy-makers, companies, members of the academia and experts coming together for social hacking.
The Process
The process starts with the selection of one or more challenges related to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda 2030
Participants collaborate and start to prototype a digital eco-innovation solution for a real societal problem. This phase foresees capacity building activities of VET students.
The Eco-Digithon competition is the final phase of the educational experience of all those involved in the co-design of the digital solutions.
Get Involved
It is expected to organise 2 Eco-Digithon editions in 2025 and 2026 in each Country represented in the ENNEPlus project: Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria. The 2026 edition will be open also to teams from different EU and extra-EU Countries.
Applications for the first round of Eco-Digithons
are open from the 30st of September to the 10th of December 2024.
CHECK THE INFORMATION BELOW TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED!
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE
Public or private Vocational Education and Training centres from Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria are the most suitable candidates for the Eco-Digithon.
General education high schools are also eligible, as long as they are committed and already active in the development of digital, technological and environmental competences of students!
Each school should be available to ensure the active engagement of a group of at least 20 students and 2 teachers/trainers, each one representing a different disciplinary area useful to the development of the proposed project.
WHY TO ENGAGE
- provide a possible solution to the environmental challenges experienced by a local community
- be supported by external stakeholders that can provide necessary resources and enhance sustainability of results
- positively impact on the achievement of one or more Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda 2030
WHAT WE OFFER
Learners and teachers from selected schools have full access to the ENNEPlus Community of Practice (CoP) on eco-innovation, giving them the opportunity to:
- get in contact with peers, role models and stakeholders in the same Country by joining the four National Chapters of the CoP
- benefit from Open Educational Resources and online mentoring by experts in ten different environmental and sustainability challenge-based learning scenarios
- compete in a face-to-face National Eco-Digithon with a representative team of 6 participants (including students, teachers and local community representatives) for the award of incubation programmes and participation in international events
- be invited to structured training courses and job-shadowing mobilities for teachers/trainers aimed at sharing good practices and designing cooperation partnerships to be funded by Erasmus+
WHEN AND HOW
The 1st edition of Eco-Digithon takes place from 30th September 2024 to 31st May 2025. In each partner Country, activities are organized following a slightly different schedule, which is aligned to the calendar and requirement of the national vocational and educational system.
The main phases of the Eco-Digithon are:
- 30 September – 20 December 2024
Interested VET centres and schools can apply online. The best 10 candidates are notified before the end of the year. - 27 January – 31 May 2025
One day online training is organized for referent teachers/trainers at the end of January 2025. Weekly online mentoring sessions are offered to teachers and learners through the Community of Practice platform until the national competitions takes place - 3 – 6 July 2025
The winning team from each Country takes part in the VIX edition of the Social Hackathon Umbria in Italy
DON’T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME AN ECO-DIGITHON CHAMPION IN YOUR COUNTRY…
…READ THE CALL AND CANDIDATE YOUR SCHOOL BEFORE THE 20TH OF DECEMBER FOR SPANISH, PORTUGUESE AND ITALIAN SCHOOLS. ARE YOU AN AUSTRIAN SCHOOL? YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO APPLY UNTIL THE 24TH OF JANUARY
