Climathon Zürich 2023: Together for net zero

For the fifth time in a row, around 120 people came together for the 32 hours Climathon Zürich in our vibrant Kraftwerk location to find solutions to the local climate challenges of our partners. We are overwhelmed by the commitment of the participants and partners and by the inspiring ideas that this year's Climathon generated. A total of 17 ideas were developed in the areas of food, mobility, circular economy and energy. Six of them particularly impressed the jury and were awarded a total prize money of CHF 40,000.

Impact Hub Zurich is once again organising the Climathon in Zurich with the support of this year's partners, the City of Zurich, Climate-KIC, Zurich Switzerland, Patagonia Switzerland, EWZ, Naturenergie and Google. Once again this year, changemakers from business, science, non-profit organisations and administration took part. For 32 hours, they worked together in teams to develop ideas to help the city of Zurich achieve its 2040 net-zero climate target. The City of Zurich, Zurich Switzerland, Patagonia Switzerland, EWZ and NaturEnergie set the topics - known as climate challenges - and supported the teams with their expertise. The atmosphere was full of energy and motivation to use present expertises to tackle the climate challenges.

More impressions from Climathon 2023

Impressive range of innovative ideas

17 project ideas were developed, 6 of which were honoured by the jury with a total of CHF 40,000 in prize money. "Once again this year, the Climathon has generated numerous creative and some promising climate ideas for local challenges. I look forward to seeing the most promising of these being realised and the city, the population and the participating companies benefiting from them," says René Estermann, Director of Environmental and Health Protection for the City of Zurich.

Following the Climathon, all teams will have the opportunity to further develop their projects in dialogue with other partner organisations, such as the One Planet Lab, Innovation Booster Swiss Food Ecosystem, Innovation Booster Swiss Smart Cities and the Innovation Booster Decarbonisation for Living Labs.

The following projects particularly impressed the jury:

ReNew - CHF 10'000

ReNew proposes a new low-threshold repair insurance for items to Zurich Switzerland. In addition, ReNew's repair experts support the insurance company in managing damaged goods and bringing them back onto the market in the spirit of the circular economy.

AI-truism - 8'000 francs

AI-truism creates open source datasets to make AI language models more climate-friendly. The aim is to suggest more sustainable answers and instructions for action in the future.

Beet eat - 7'000 francs

Beet eat aims to connect the people of Zurich with food production. Through joint "open farming" activities on participating farms, the appreciation of food can be increased and food waste prevented in the long term.

About Climathon

The Climathon Zurich has been organised and hosted by Impact Hub Zurich for five years. The main local partner and sponsor is the City of Zurich, other partners this year are Zurich Switzerland, Patagonia Switzerland, Google, EWZ and NaturEnergie. The Climathon was initiated by the knowledge and innovation community EIT Climate-KIC. Climathons are organised in over 200 cities around the world. Lara Mogge, Programme Manager at Impact Hub Zurich, says: "The Zurich Climathon shows how private individuals, companies and the public sector can work together to address climate change. The innovation format brings people from different backgrounds together and inspires them to get actively involved in shaping a sustainable Zurich."

Opportunities to collaborate with us

Impact Hub Zurich, together with its partners Climate-KIC and the City of Zurich, is already looking for further partners for Climathon Zurich 2024. If you would like to find out more or enter into a partnership with us, please contact Lara Mogge or get in touch using this form.