In November 24 and 25, 9th to 12th grade students from all over Latvia will gather in Liepaja, Riga, Valmiera and Daugavpils to solve current school challenges and create ideas for promoting students’ well-being, self-growth and a “greener” school. The most active students of Latvia are invited to register their participation by November 16, by filling out the registration form HERE.

In Latvia, Europe and abroad, a lot of attention is paid to how important a child’s well-being at school is in modern society, because academic achievements do not always indicate a positive self-esteem. A motivating, sustainable school environment and active involvement of students in its implementation would promote qualitative changes in the education system, and the European Youth Year is the right time to implement these changes.

“We want to draw attention to current issues in schools and invite students to submit proposals for solving them. Currently, several teams of students who will represent their school, as well as individual participants, have applied. Educators are also showing interest,” informs the head of the hackathon management and coordination project Roberts Gaižutis (Green Tech Cluster): “Applications are still open, so we invite pupils all over Latvia to express their opinion and create viable ideas for promoting students’ emotional well-being, self-growth and for implementing sustainable processes in schools.”

As previously reported, the participants of the event will have the opportunity to solve one of three challenges:

  • “What kind of school environment promotes my growth
  • “What should the school be like so that I feel emotionally good and accepted?”;
  • “How can I help the school become greener?”.

The hackathon will take place simultaneously in Liepaja, Riga, Valmiera and Daugavpils, and with the support of experienced mentors, pupils will have the opportunity to create ideas to solve the challenges. Participants will gain experience in idea generation, development and teamwork, as well as take part in growth-enhancing masterclasses and develop their presentation skills.

Hackathon “School for the student” will be separated in two stages: Mini-hackathon on November 24 in Liepaja, Riga, Valmiera and Daugavpils and Top-hackathon on November 25 in Riga and online. Students will participate in team-building activities, create prototypes of ideas and compete for the chance to win one of the four Mini-hackathon prizes worth 300 EUR, as well as the hackathon’s main prize worth 2000 EUR.

Students are invited to apply with or without a team by November 16 by filling out the registration form here.

More information can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science https://redzitalak.lv/skola-skolenam/ and Green Tech Cluster’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/greentechlatvia.

Hackathon “School for the student” is organized by the Ministry of Education and Science in cooperation with the association “Green Tech Cluster” as part of the European Year of Youth, creating a connection with the European Commission’s initiatives “EU in my School” and “Europe in my Region”. The hackathon is organized with the support of European Union (EU) funds.