Step. and GO! Turn your challenges into concrete actions.

Organizing a 5-day Participatory Science Hackathon: a driver of economic, educational, and employment activities

A Participatory Science Hackathon is not just a moment of collective innovation; it is a catalyst for new and sustainable activities, both in the educational and economic fields. In five days, such an event mobilizes talent, stimulates sectors, and opens up unexpected employment opportunities for the host country.

Educational activities with high added value

  • Accelerated training for youth: hands-on workshops where students learn programming, data analysis, and science communication.
  • Capacity building for teachers: integration of active and participatory methods they will reuse in their classrooms.
  • Valorization of local research: connecting national researchers with citizen communities to test prototypes or popularize their work.
  • Non-formal education: involvement of associations, youth clubs, and scouts, discovering science as a collective game.
  • International openness: participation of foreign teams, creating a dynamic of intercultural learning.

Direct economic activities during the event

  • Scientific tourism: accommodation, catering, and transport for national and international participants.
  • Technical service providers: venue rental, high-speed internet connection, audiovisuals, 3D printing, digital fabrication.
  • Event services: decorators, facilitators, graphic designers, photographers, and videographers mobilized for the occasion.
  • Local production: crafts, merchandise, and local catering highlighted for participants.
  • Media and communication: radio stations, TV channels, and digital agencies finding new coverage and contract opportunities.

Economic impacts after the event

  • School trips across the country: projects from the hackathon serve as the basis for new educational programs. Schools organize outings and national science stays, generating an economy around transport, accommodation, and educational mediation.
  • Regenerative and resilient tourism: the innovations and activities created become attractions for the general public and international visitors. This develops tourism that is both cultural and scientific, highlighting local natural resources while protecting them.
  • Circular economy: prototypes and solutions designed (sensors, educational kits, scientific objects) are produced from local, recycled, or sustainable resources, creating a circular value chain where reuse and waste reduction become economic opportunities.
  • Startup creation: some teams continue their projects (mobile app, environmental sensor, educational platform…).
  • Data valorization: citizen databases on biodiversity, pollution, and public health, reusable by companies or institutions.
  • Professional training: development of training modules derived from prototypes, offered to schools, NGOs, and companies.
  • Social innovation: emergence of cooperatives or associations that extend hackathon ideas (circular economy, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy).
  • Attraction of investments: increased visibility attracting international donors, cooperation agencies, incubators, and private investors.

Jobs created or consolidated

  • Short term:
    • Project coordinators
    • Facilitators
    • Digital technicians, designers, makers
    • Science mediators, scientific and educational managers
    • Sales representatives, business developers
  • Medium term:
    • Trainers specialized in participatory science
    • Developers of applications emerging from the hackathon
    • Managers of educational programs in schools or NGOs
    • Science journalists and communicators
  • Long term:
    • Social entrepreneurs
    • Consultants in participatory innovation
    • Researchers associated with international networks
    • Managers of citizen science platforms

Types of activities, formats, audiences, and venues generated by a Participatory Science Hackathon

Types of activities

  • Science camps and educational stays
  • Discovery classes and school trips
  • Technical and pedagogical training (teachers, facilitators, students)
  • Participatory research projects (environment, health, biodiversity, energy, astronomy, etc.)
  • Maker workshops and prototyping (3D printing, robotics, sensors, connected objects)
  • Publications and editions (guides, manuals, educational kits, popularized scientific articles)
  • Consulting and auditing services (NGOs, local authorities, governments, UN)
  • Creation of educational objects and scientific kits
  • Local cooperatives or startups emerging from hackathon projects

Formats

  • Short hackathons (24h, 48h) or intensive (5 days)
  • Residential seminars (3 + 6 days) to train future leaders of local groups
  • Citizen prototyping workshops
  • Conferences-debates and multi-stakeholder roundtables
  • Field experiments (scientific measurements in nature, full-scale tests)
  • Webinars and online training to extend the hackathon
  • Exhibitions or science fairs open to the public

Target audiences

  • Children (science awareness, discovery stays)
  • Youth and students (practical training, research projects, civic engagement)
  • Teachers and educators (continuing education, new teaching methods)
  • Researchers and experts (co-construction of solutions with citizens)
  • Economic actors (entrepreneurs, cooperatives, startups)
  • Institutions and local authorities (local projects linked to SDGs)
  • Families and the general public (scientific tourism, cultural events)
  • NGOs and local associations (capacity building and partnerships)

Venues

  • City centers (coworking spaces, incubators, universities)
  • Eco-responsible business incubators
  • Natural sites: forests, mountains, coastal zones, lakes, seas, deserts, glaciers
  • Heritage and archaeological sites
  • School and university centers
  • Villages and rural communities (local anchoring, citizen participation)
  • International cooperation venues (Palais des Nations in Geneva, global forums)

By combining these activities, formats, audiences, and venues, a hackathon becomes a platform generating jobs, training, and local solutions, while integrating the host country into an international network of participatory innovation.

A 5-day Participatory Science Hackathon is therefore much more than a one-off event: it is a living infrastructure of education and innovation.
It immediately generates local consumption, stimulates creative and digital industries, and above all, leaves behind a fertile ecosystem of entrepreneurial, social, and scientific initiatives.
Each edition is an investment in the future, to transform citizen creativity into sustainable jobs and concrete solutions to society’s challenges.

Any message or comments?

Forum registration required

You must be registered before participating in this forum. Please enter your personal identifier . If you have not yet registered, you must register.

Connection | Sign up | password forgotten?