During the main part of the event, the teams had time to exchange experiences, come up with creative ideas and build innovative, coherent and effective recipes for the challenges posed by this year's partners of the event: Nordea, Veolia, Wella Company, ING Bank Śląski and the City of Lodz Office. The solutions were then presented on the forum and the authors of the best ideas received financial awards.
The winning teams worked on the following challenges:
- 1st place, a challenge from Wella Company:
What can Wella Company do to become an employer of choice among young people/students starting their professional career?
- 2nd place, a challenge from Nordea:
What solutions can be proposed to support the goals of achieving climate neutrality through the implementation of Green IT solutions?
- 3rd place, a challenge from ING Bank Śląski:
How could a bank support people who got stuck in a loop of debt?
I believe that events such as Ideathon provide space for acquiring technical skills, developing creative competences, as well as building the ability to work in a team. They also teach how to look for quick and effective solutions and a creative approach to unusual problems. We have become a partner of Ideathon, because the whole concept of the initiative focuses on social issues. One of Nordea's strategic goals is sustainable development – it is an integral part of our business activities. As a company, we have introduced measurable goals and actively participate in the global climate transformation. The bank's goal of zero net C02 emissions by 2050 and the related technological transformation in the IT area are the examples. I feel convinced that this year's edition of Ideathon aggregates interesting ideas, such as support for climate neutrality through technological innovations (Green IT) and others that can have a real impact on the environment and improvement of living conditions
– emphasised Jakub Bagiński, Country Lead for Technology in Poland, Nordea.
The external environment is subject to constant transformations, which indicates the need to create events that allow the student community to speak out and be present in the space for actual activities initiating changes in the environment. This is the reason why the University of Lodz undertakes numerous initiatives aimed at supporting students not only in broadly understood development, but also in creating places for interaction with the environment.
Ideathon has made it possible to gain unique experience and competences in teamwork using the Design Thinking method with creative people from other faculties and universities. It has also provided training in communication and presentation skills while working on real challenges arising from the environment.
This year's edition of Ideathon took place under the Substantive Patronage of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) – the world's largest initiative bringing together sustainable companies. Since 2000, it has been working for the environment, human rights, anti-corruption and decent and legal work.
Photo report of the Ideathon 2023 final
Source: Centre for External Relations, University of Lodz
Photo: Bartosz Kałużny (Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz), Łukasz Dobiński (Career Office, University of Lodz)
Edit: Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz