Domain: Contribution to developing innovations and businesses

Action: Bringing cities and citizens together to raise awareness about local climate challenges, strengthen local eco-systems and initiate climate positive projects and business ideas.

Best practice title: Climathon

Best practice summary: Climathon is a global community, encouraging citizens from all backgrounds to learn about their local climate challenges, take active part in their local eco-systems and co-create ideas for the benefit of their city for a 1.5 degree world – this is productive local citizenship.

By whom: EIT Climate-KIC

Key ingredients / description: The intent of Climathon is to raise climate awareness, disrupt the status quo, and rethink the places we live in and the future we want as citizens.

At the core of the Climathon programme is an ideathon powered by local organisers – citizens, NGOs or city officials – the people who know their cities and climate challenges the best. The programme culminates with Global Climathon Week in hundreds of cities across continents and many timezones.

Over the span of 12-72 hours, a diverse group of participants ranging from policymakers to entrepreneurs, youth to business leaders, hackers to academics, and students to professionals, come together to collaborate on forward-thinking ideas for climate neutral cities of tomorrow.  

Context (if applicable): In hundreds of cities across the world (not limited to Europe)

Audiences (if applicable): Local organisers (e.g. NGO’s, Citizen Collectives and Municipalities)

Documents (if any): N/A

Links (if any): Climathon | A Global Climate Action Programme (climate-kic.org)

Key success factors / How to replicate: We have developed a tested methodology and a strong

brand which align with an almost self-managing community.

Contact person: Silvia Doglioni eit-hei@climate-kic.org

Keywords (at least 5): Citizens, Cities, Awareness, Ideation, Learning