Italian team Nettuniani awarded at EU Sparks for Climate: European Citizens Hackathon Championship
Press Release -
The winning project focuses on adaptation to climate change, using artificial intelligence and historical insights from Milan’s ancient Roman channels and aquifers to pioneer sustainable flood management solutions.
The EU Sparks for Climate: European Citizens Hackathon Championship initiative, in which teams from all over Europe developed innovative solutions against climate change, has come to an end. The Nettuniani team was announced as one of the winners at the final event held in Brussels on 10-11 October for its urban water innovation.
The team’s journey began during the Italian championship of the EU Sparks for Climate, held in the city of L’Aquila from 13 to 15 June, in collaboration with ICONS, a leading science communication organisation. The team, consisting of three Italians, presented the project idea ‘The Nept-union smart IoT-AI netweb to master urban water’ with a special focus on Milan. The project not only integrates predictive artificial intelligence, real-time monitoring through IoT sensors and historical insights from Milan’s ancient Roman channels and aquifers, but also introduces an innovative system to develop a robust digital ecosystem with real-time monitoring, aligning with EU smart city schemes, to improve urban water management.
The final event was attended by 27 teams from 22 EU Member States and 7 Horizon Europe associated countries. More than 300 young people, students, researchers and citizens came together to turn research and knowledge into concrete solutions in support of the EU Missions on Adaptation to Climate Change and on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities.
On 10 October, the finalists presented their projects to an international audience and experts from the EU missions. On 11 October, a jury of experts evaluated the projects and awarded the Neptunian team in the category ‘Adaptation to Climate Change Mission’. The team received a €5,000 prize along with mentoring and networking opportunities to further develop their project.
