Future Smart City Hackathon 2026 - registration is open

The hackathon is an event where secondary school pupils and university students create real solutions to the challenges facing contemporary cities.

Participants work in teams of three to five, guided by academic and industry mentors. There are three challenges to choose from:

⚡ Power Shift - sustainable energy, transport and urban infrastructure
❤️ Health Shift - health, wellbeing and quality of life for residents
♻️ Circular Shift - smart management of resources and waste

 

What can you win?

The best teams can look forward to attractive cash prizes and prizes in kind. It is also a chance to present your project publicly during the final and earn recognition from experts in academia and business.

 

What else do participants gain?

Future-ready skills, hands-on work on genuine urban problems, the support of experienced mentors, and contact with the academic and business community.

 

Event partners

The challenges, mentors and prizes are created in cooperation with the project's business and institutional partners. Our Strategic Partner is Żabka Group. Our Main Partners are: Fundacja ProKarton, Ptak Warsaw Expo, the University of Łódź, BIO4PAK and the Łódź Special Economic Zone. Our Partners include: Biznes Zone, Centre for City Futures and American Corner Łódź. The project is also supported by: Łódź Kreuje, Młodzi w Łodzi, Smart Lodz, Łódzki Klaster ICT, LODZistics, Łódzkie dla Biznesu, Startups Powered by Invest in Lodz, the Professor Jerzy Dietl Entrepreneurship Development Foundation, Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Studies and EkSoc startUP!

Thanks to them, participants work on challenges submitted by real organisations, and their solutions stand a chance of being implemented.

 

Key dates

Applications: until 7 October 2026
Kick off: 9 October 2026
On-site final: 6 November 2026, University of Łódź Library

 

Put together a team and sign up now:
https://challengerocket.com/hackathon-future-smart-city-26

 

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The public task "Łódź for Science - grants for academic initiatives 2026" is financed from the budget of the City of Łódź.

The public task is co-financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education from funds received in 2026 under the competition "Organising and supporting activities for the academic community".