Hack4theFuture of Europe

"<< Background >>Programming schools are still a relatively new phenomenon in Europe, but the market is growing very fast. In this project, European cooperation, learning from each other through the exchange of best practices and the compilation of workshop content on entrepreneurship were therefore in the foreground for the programming schools. It is important for learners at these institutions to be trained in innovative thinking, as the industry is also disruptive and fast-moving. In addition, international collaboration and real-world project experience boost opportunities in the (European) job market. This hackathon project has covered exactly these needs. << Objectives >> A European hackathon with a subsequent incubator project phase was to be carried out by three European coding schools. The goal of the project was to provide learners the opportunity to work in international teams on innovative and digital solutions and to learn further skills through practical experience, training and coaching in the field of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the focus was on the European cooperation of program schools and the writing of a handbook to pass on the findings and contents to interested parties.<< Implementation >>An international online hackathon was organized and conducted with learners and alumni of the three project partners. Subsequently, three winning teams received online coaching in entrepreneurial skills over several months and further developed their project ideas. The findings and process of such a project were written up in a manual in an appealing and clear way to be available for other organizations. Finally, an online closing event was organized in which the three winning teams were selected. The project partners also met in person in Düsseldorf to work on the content of the project and to strengthen the relationship. << Results >>One concrete result is the guidebook on ""How to organize an international online Hackathon"" (file:///Users/SuperCode/Downloads/Guidebook_Hack4theFuture_02.pdf). All important document templates as well as the workshop content are linked there for download, and it can be freely used and adapted as needed. The manual was communicated as a project result on various channels and is now available on Epale and the project homepage www.hack4thefuture.eu. It thus serves as an inspiration for other organizations for such a project and for the teaching of entrepreneurial skills in the field of IT.Other outcomes included the three-day online hackathon event with four live workshops and coaching meetings, and the subsequent three-month incubation phase to further develop the projects as well as workshops in entrepreneurial skills. During this phase, another 5 workshops were held and numerous coaching sessions were offered. Finally, the teams were selected again in an online final event and the results were disseminated. A Youtube video is available for this purpose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvITjzR5vH0"