OpenDot, a social innovation centre based in Milan, in collaboration with KTU, Vivita Lithuania, LSMU and Design Friends and the school "Herojus", have organised a hackaton on 19-20 September, 2024. The aim of the hackathon was to help children and their families and caregivers live better and eat healthier.
The hackathon focused on the real challenges faced by children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The organising team worked with children aged 10-14 years old, modelling new concepts and solutions to help them adopt a healthier lifestyle through educational methods. The hackathon addressed the following challenges: How can we help children with diabetes live healthier and happier lives? How can we promote healthy eating education and prevention through food?
After the hackathon, Kaunas University of Technology students and designers developed and prototyped the solutions of the two winning teams in the D-LAB at the M-Lab centre, in a two-month mentoring programme with OpenDot.
Design Friends helped to understand local needs for food culture and sustainability, mapped stakeholders, organised discussions between OpenDot, partners and stakeholders, and contributed to shaping the objectives of the hackathon. The university involved local groups as target users, helped organise the logistics of the hackathon and participated in its activities. Design Friends also judged the participants' work, advised the winning teams, contributed to the prototyping, testing and documentation of the prototypes, and coordinated the production of a narrative video about the prototypes.
1 September 2024 - 31 December 2024
OpenDot
This hackathon is part of the activities of the European project FEAST - Food systems that support transitions to healthy and sustainable diets (https://feast2030.eu/), which aims at facilitating the transition to a food system that is better for people and the planet.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or REA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement n° 101060536.
