Students from 12 universities worked together to find solutions across the food industry at the hackathon hosted by Climate Jams.
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University students from across London and the South-East came together to tackle food waste at this year’s Food Waste Hackathon. The event was organised by Climate Jams and took place at the University of London’s Warburg Institute.
Students from 12 universities proposed innovative strategies to reshape both consumer and industry mindsets when it comes to food waste, with one student from City St George’s working on the winning team.
The brief was broad but encouraged students to think about how to reframe the perception that abundance is seen as a necessity across the food industry.
Participants were put into multi-disciplinary teams and given five hours to research, define, develop and deliver their solution to a panel of expert judges working in the food waste sector. Their creative ideas ranged from innovative takeaway packaging solutions, community freezers, personalised ordering systems and portioning plates.
The winning group, The Scrap Savers, reimagined how food scraps can be used to make snacks. Each member of the winning group received a meal for two at the ‘world’s first zero waste restaurant’ Silo London.
City St George’s students tackle food waste and find solutions
Shamika Sriram joined fellow City St George's students at the hackathon. While Shamika studies Human-Computer Interaction Design MSc and spends most of her days finding digital solutions, she took a different approach with her team during the hackathon by designing a plate that transforms into a container.
For Shamika, the hackathon was more than just a competition. She regarded it as a valuable opportunity and hoped to continue working on the solution beyond the event.
“I think this event is a great platform for students who want to make a change, but we cannot just stop here after finding the solution. It would be nice if we get the support to take our solution forward,” she said.
Climate Jams: connecting students to innovate and deliver
Arthur Shearlaw, founder of Climate Jams, said:
“At Climate Jams we provide opportunities for students to tackle real-world challenges through innovative programmes such as Hackathon’s like these! We were proud to have partnered with Gather & Gather, University of London and 12 different universities to make this event happen. We shouldn’t underestimate the power of bringing students together, who each bring their own experiences and specialisms, to tackle some of the most important challenges of our time. This is what our programmes are all about, and it was great to see so many students come together to connect, innovate and deliver.”
Universities involved in the hackathon included:
- Imperial College London
- University of Greenwich
- City St George’s, University of London
- King’s College London
- London South Bank University
- University of Reading
- University of Westminster
- University of Surrey
- Queen Mary, University of London
- Kingston University London
- UCL
- Birkbeck, University of London
Explore more
Sustainable development at City St George’s
City St George’s annual sustainability report
Words by Shuyi Zhao