Hackathon Environmental Intelligence for Cultural Heritage and Health

The Hackathon Environmental Intelligence for Cultural Heritage and Health is an international innovation challenge dedicated to young talents who want to turn Earth Observation data into solutions for societal impact.

Organized by ISPRA, the Copernicus National User Forum (FNUC) and ECMWF, with the support of the EU Horizon SD-WISHEES project, the initiative brings together participants from across Europe and beyond to develop innovative project concepts based on Copernicus data.

All activities, materials and final presentations will be conducted in English.

How does it work?

The Hackathon invites up to 30 selected participants from across Europe and beyond, including university students, recent graduates, PhD candidates and Post-Docs within five years of completing their academic path. All activities will be conducted in English.

Participants will be divided into a maximum of 10 multidisciplinary and multinational teams. Teams will be formed by the Organization to ensure a balanced mix of backgrounds and nationalities, fostering international collaboration. Team composition will be finalized 10 days before the event, and members will be put in contact in advance to facilitate team building. Teams will remain unchanged throughout the Hackathon.

Each team will develop an innovative project concept addressing societal challenges in Cultural Heritage, Health, Air Quality or Climate Change. Projects must be based on the use of at least one dataset provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) or the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), and must be consistent with the thematic challenges proposed during the event.

Over the three days, ideas will evolve into concrete outputs such as prototypes, mock-ups, dashboards or visual communication tools. At the end of the Hackathon, one representative of each team will present its project in English to an expert jury, composed of at least five members representing the organizers and sponsors. The assessment will be based on validity and feasibility, degree of innovation and communication impact. Each jury member will assign a score from 1 to 5, and the winning team will be selected from the four highest-ranked teams.

The winning team will receive a high-level remote mentoring program delivered by leading Earth Observation companies, including technical support to refine the project and strategic business coaching. All participants will receive a certificate of participation. More details on the prizes will be will be published on this webpage in next weeks.

Event Schedule and Format

The Hackathon will take place in person at the ECMWF premises, Tecnopolo di Bologna, Via Stalingrado 84/3, 40128 Bologna, Italy.

Schedule:

• Friday 8 May 2026, 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
• Saturday 9 May 2026, 9:30 am – 7:00 pm
• Sunday 10 May 2026, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

The first afternoon will be dedicated to participant registration, team formation and the presentation of the thematic challenges and the available Copernicus datasets. The second day will focus entirely on teamwork and project development, with the objective of transforming ideas into structured and innovative solutions. On the final day, teams will prepare a PowerPoint presentation including an abstract slide. Each team will deliver a 10-minute pitch to the jury, followed by the evaluation process and the award ceremony.

The detailed program will be published on this webpage before the Hackathon start.

Registration

Applications will be accepted in chronological order of submission, at the sole discretion of the organizing committee.

Those interested in participating in the initiative may register by completing the online form available at: Hackathon Environmental Intelligence for Cultural heritage and Health .

Challenge yourself.
Connect with innovators.
Shape the future with Copernicus!

For more information, please contact us by email: webcopernicusufn@isprambiente.it

How to reach the hackathon venue: https://www.ecmwf.int/en/about/location/ecmwf-bologna

Organizing Committee

Manuela D’Amen, Antonella Tornato, Stefano Mariani (ISPRA)

Andrea Taramelli (Forum Nazionale Utenti Copernicus, IUSS PAVIA, ISPRA)

Annalisa Buoro, Olga Loegel, Cristina Ananasso, Martin Palkovic (ECMWF)

Giorgia Ghergo (IUSS PAVIA)