Urban hackathon highlights future of green Riyadh

European experts in sustainable planning joined their Saudi counterparts at the Future of Living hackathon, which set out to find solutions to pressing issues on environmentally friendly development as part of the city’s green transition.

The hackathon was hosted by members of the EU National Institutes for Culture Cluster in Saudi Arabia, a cultural network set up to strengthen cultural ties between the Kingdom and the EU.

The embassies of France, Italy and Spain, as well as the EU delegation to Saudi Arabia, joined Al-Mashtal Creative Space in staging the 48-hour hackathon, which took place on Nov. 15-16, followed by presentations at an awards ceremony on Nov. 17.

Four teams each tackled a specific issue and explored innovative solutions with experts, pairing local architects, students, programmers and cultural activists with Saudi Arabian and European experts in sustainable planning.

All solutions were in line with the Saudi Green initiative and the European Green Deal, the EU’s plan to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050.

Experts in sustainable planning from Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia coached and supervised the teams.

A jury awarded first prize to Ali Banaja and Mazen Orayjah for their greywater usage project and second prize to Hosam Qadry, Khalid Mashi and Noura Alhilali for their community app project.

Commenting on the event, Elham Ghanimah, community curator at Al-Mashtal Creative Space, said: “The hackathon is the first of its kind in collaboration with the EUNIC Cluster. It highlights the importance of urban sustainability in accordance with the 2030 Vision for a greener Riyadh.”

Katarzyna Wielga-Skolimowska, director of the Goethe-Institut Saudi Arabia, said: ‘‘This hackathon is an opportunity to combine Saudi and European creativity for sustainable urban development. In a bottom-up process, teams came up with concrete solutions for challenges such as waste management, improving quality of life and solving water scarcity.”

Speaking at the award ceremony, Patrick Simonnet, EU ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said: “As a global leader in climate action, the EU has further increased its focus on urban issues in line with the EU Green Deal, the most ambitious blueprint to drive transformational change aimed at reversing climate change and building a new economic model.”

The urban hackaton project was part of the Europe Readr — the future of living, a website including a literary selection from all 27 EU member states on the future of living.

Participating teams were selected after an open call for proposals launched in July 2021. Information to potential participants was shared through the europereadr.eu website, alongside the Europe Readr Facebook and Instagram accounts.