Your Climate Action Problem + Tech Skills = A Solution!
What if a great idea to make your community climate work easier could become a real tool in just one day?
ECCAN is teaming up with CodeBase to host a Buildathon focused on getting fast, actionable solutions into the hands of those on the frontline of community-led action.
This event is designed to find actionable, accessible solutions to the challenges people working on community-led climate action face. It will take place at CodeBase Edinburgh, 35a Castle Terrace on Monday 24th November from 10am to 5.30pm.
We’re inviting staff, volunteers, and climate-curious people—the experts in real-world climate action—alongside coders and designers. You don't need any experience in technology or coding to participate! Your job is to bring the problem and the context; we’ll build the dream team to find a solution. This is a unique opportunity to link diverse skillsets for our common net-zero goals.
Here are the kinds of concrete challenges this Buildathon is designed to tackle:
· Impact Reporting: "Our local food-growing project tracks how much produce we redistribute, but we struggle to clearly show our volunteers and funders the total environmental impact (e.g., CO2 saved) and social impact (e.g., meals provided)." A team could prototype a simple, data visualization dashboard to automatically generate a clear, shareable impact graphic.
· Resource Sharing: "Our member groups need to share resources like successful funding applications or recruitment posters, but they're currently scattered across emails and shared drives." A team could build a searchable, tag-based resource library/portal for the ECCAN network.
We Need Your Problem Statements!
Before we can build, we need to know what to build. We are inviting you to submit Problem Statements—a clear, concise description of an issue or opportunity you face in your daily climate work.
Think of your Problem Statement as a blueprint. It helps a team of innovators understand the goal and what needs to be solved.
When you're writing your statement, be sure to include:
· What is the problem? Clearly describe the specific issue you face.
· Who is affected? Identify the people or groups impacted (e.g., volunteers, community members, local groups).
· Why does it need a solution? Explain the benefits of solving it and how it will improve your climate work.
· What's the desired outcome? Describe what the situation would look like if the problem were resolved.
Don't worry about having all the answers—the goal is to define the problem clearly so a mixed-skill team can take it on and prototype a solution!
Do you have a problem that, if solved, would accelerate your community's climate action? Submit your problem statement before 17th November and let's build something great together!
If you have any questions about what makes a good problem statement or how to get involved, please get in touch with us!