Cáritas Coimbra was partner of the first edition of CASSINI Hackathon
Between 18 and 20 June 2021, the first edition of CASSINI Hackathon’s held, an initiative of the European Commission that “seeks candidates to develop innovative solutions for green spaces through the use of spatial data, contributing to a more digital and sustainable Europe”. Cáritas Coimbra was partner of this initiative contributing as coordinator of the large-scale pilot of the Pharaon project, under the theme “Smart and friendly cities”.
The challenge was to develop “new products or services that digitize green spaces in Portugal, using spatial data from the European programmes Copernicus, Galileo and EGNOS”. In this process, participants had the support of business experts and technicians from the Portuguese space community and should always be based on the three key objectives of the initiative: improving the quality of life in cities, helping citizens to have a healthy lifestyle, and protecting rural areas and the environment.
The initiative was carried out simultaneously in ten European countries: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Switzerland. In Portugal, the action oversees the Pedro Nunes Institute (IPN), which coordinates ESA Space Solutions Portugal, and has as partners the Portuguese Space Agency, Cáritas Diocesana de Coimbra, the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research of the University of Coimbra, the Intermunicipal Community of the Coimbra Region and Coimbra Functional Fitness.
Cáritas Coimbra presented some of the challenges it is facing under the Pharaon project, in which it is Coordinator of the Large-Scale Pilot, within the CASSINI themes “improving the quality of life in cities”, “helping citizens to have a healthy lifestyle” and “protecting rural areas and the environment” and for which participants will develop innovative solutions.
The top three places in the national competition will have access to an innovation and entrepreneurship course through a distance learning platform. The big winner will benefit from three months of free virtual incubation in the IPN and participate in Demo Day with all European winners, enabled the final prize of 100 hours of mentoring. More information at: https://hackathons.cassini.eu/portugal
The Pharaon project – Pilots for Healthy and Active Ageing intends to develop integrated platforms that allow personalized and optimized care in terms of health and social assistance, maintaining the dignity of older people and encouraging their independence, security, and abilities. In addition, it intends to foster its interest in the nearest urban natural areas, as well as its active participation in the preservation of the environment. To this end, it proposes to integrate services, devices and digital tools on open platforms that can be readily implemented on the ground.
Pharaon consortium is made up of 41 European entities and the project received a total investment of 21.5 million euros, funded by the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program of the European Union, under the Grant Contract No. 857188.
