Let’s hack for a better world
We create real solutions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's), by organizing global hackathons.
Mission
Our mission is creating real solutions to the SDG’s, by bringing people all over the world together in hackathons. We call it citizendriven innovation.
Sustainability
The SDG’s is at the heart at of everything we do. Together with all parts of society - private and public sector, academia and citizens - we find the solutions we need for the society of tomorrow.
Diversity
The best solutions comes from diverse teams. Diversity in competence, background, age and experience is crucial for finding the solutions of tomorrow.
Impact
A great idea is nothing if it’s not made a reality. By supporting the best solutions from our hackathons in our customized acceleration program Build for Earth, we are an active partner in creating real solutions for our earth and the people living on it.
Hack for Earth
Hack for Earth hackathon
at COP28
Our third global hackathon is taking place at the United Nation’s high level climate conference COP28 in Dubai, launching December 2023.
Does your organization want to be an official partner? Contact us for more info.
Yes, it’s true! We are doing it again!
We are inviting young people worldwide to yet another global online hackathon with a mission for impact - Hack for Earth hackathon at the United Nation’s high-level climate conference COP28 in Dubai in December 2023. Applications will open soon!
There is no other future than a sustainable future.
The pandemic has shown us that it’s imperative that we create solutions that transcend borders. We are more dependent on each other than ever before, as nations and individuals, and this will only increase in the years to come.
The need for solutions on climate change that deliver value for the world is more urgent than ever. Now is the time to create a sustainable future - together.
Our third global hackathon, at COP28 in Dubai.
Our latest hackathon, Hack for Earth Youth hackathon at COP27 in Egypt, gathered thousands of young people from 125 countries, just like Hack for Earth hackathon at the world exhibition Expo2020 did. A new batch of 7 winning teams joined our customized acceleration program Build for Earth in 2023, to make their solutions on fighting climate change come to life.
Click here to read more about the results of Hack for Earth Youth Hackathon at COP27, and follow us in social media for updates on how to join our upcoming hackathon at COP28!
Our story
Hack for Earth Foundation was born out of the work our founder Ann Molin did for the government mission Hack for Sweden. Discovering hackathons as a powerful tool to create solutions in a short period of time, Ann saw the potential of an international, communitydriven platform for taking action on the SDG’s and founded the Hack for Earth Foundation with her own means.
A non-profit organisation
Hack for Earth Foundation is a non-profit organisation, solely dedicated to offering an opportunity for all people on this planet to make a positive impact for our future world. All who people and organizations who are passionate about global change, and the crucial mission of creating real solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals, are welcome to join our hackathons.
Dream - Hack - Build
Through the proven Dream - Hack - Build process, we make people come together to find real solutions to the SDG’s, and we make the solutions to come to life. The international DREAM campaign invite the people of the world to share their dream for our future, in a video or text. The shared dreams are analyzed and made in to challenges for the HACK part, where all come together in a hackathon. The winners of the hackathon enter our BUILD for Earth customized acceleration program, designed to make the solutions a reality. We call it citizendriven innovation.
Build for Earth - taking solutions all the way to product
Build for Earth is a unique acceleration program, the final part of the Hack for Earth Dream – Hack – Build process, designed to make innovative solutions become a reality.
Build for Earth acceleration program is created by three main sources of input:
1. International research and statistics on startup failure and success
2. Interviews with leading global innovation experts
3. Conclusions from hackathons conducted with Hack for Sweden, Hack the Crisis Sweden, EUvsVirus, Kids Hack the Crisis and more
Research and data, input from innovation experts and learnings from previous hackathon winners points in a clear direction - a great team is the most crucial aspect to turn an innovative solution into reality.
A strong focus on team collaboration and psychological safety is a key aspect of the program since research shows that creating psychological safety within a group is correlated with improved performance, team learning and work satisfaction.
An optimized and value driven team can better utilize the skills and knowledge on how to become a successful startup, such as creating business models, understanding product to market fit, involving stakeholders, creating purposeful partnerships, and measuring the impact.
At the end of the acceleration program all solutions shall have:
- An autonomous team with the right skill set, a high degree of psychological safety and a transformative leadership implemented
- Knowledge and skills on how to build a startup, a company/organization and what it takes to succeed and realize a great solution
- A well-defined and deliverable digital product and/or service
- How sustainability behaviors can be incorporated into the team and measured when providing a service/product
- Partnerships and collaborations supportive of the team and its solution, as well as financing options and customers for the finished productOur third global hackathon at COP28
Hack for Earth at COP28
We have already delivered two successful global hackathons. First Hack for Earth at the world exhibition Expo2020 in Dubai and Hack for Earth Youth hackathon at COP27 in Egypt. Both hackathons gathered thousands of participants from 120+ countries, which is more than half of the countries in the world. In 2023, we are taking citizendriven innovation to the next level with Hack for Earth global hackathon at the UN high level climate conference COP28.
Our Journey
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Hack for Sweden
29 government agencies and 220 hackers participating
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Hack for Sweden
45 government agencies, 50 companies and 420 hackers participating
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Hackathon Workshop with Swedish Government Council for Innovation
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Hack the Crisis Sweden
+7400 participants, +150 partner organizations, +530 submitted solutions
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Kids Hack the Crisis with UNICEF
Over 1200 participants from 74 countries
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Educated Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on hackathons as a tool for citizendriven innovation
Personnel from all Swedish embassies participated
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Hack for Earth Foundation established
Results
We are all about impact, and our winning solutions from our hackathons all enter our customized Build for Earth acceleration program.
Here are three examples of innovations from hackathons we have coorganized, that in a matter of months have become real tools for the good of society.
Fighting domestic violence
BrightAct is a Swedish tech startup for good, with the mission to innovate for society and positively impact 1Bn lives by 2030
BrightAct’s apps are designed around trust and nurture to guide help-seekers in their journey to safety. For the victims, the perpetrators and the children living in unsafe homes. They have a unique and innovative solution where our partners provide content, and we supply the infrastructure to create an impact. They gather and streamline support, in one location, to save lives.
Digital COVID-19 health certificates
Coronafree is enabling a safe re-opening for businesses, traveling, and events
Healthy individuals should be able to engage as usual in society, they should be able to work, travel, and participate in events, allowing the economic wheels to spin again. With digital health certificates, they enable the possibility of a safe re-opening for businesses.
Coronafree deliver an end-to-end solution from A to Z, so that your organization can resume operations and reduce the risk of infection. A technical solution alone is not enough, but the combination from the sampling of staff, event-goers, and travelers, to logistics and trustworhty validation of health statuses, this creates the prerequisites to facilitate a safe return to a more open society.
In partnership Cornafree, Eurofins, and IBM deliver what your organization needs for a safe re-opening.
Connecting everyday heroes with those in need
The Hero Loop is bringing citizens together and connecting citizens in need of help
The Hero Loop AB, founded October 2020 in Sweden, is a jury awarded social app bringing citizens together and connecting citizens in need of help with help from other citizens nearby. This happens within a 20km map radius from your location, in real time. Blockchain enables anonymous and encrypted login, so no privacy data is processed, following GDPR protocols.
AI/ML stops toxic use throughout the app, and matches people with the same interests. Help can also be requested without access to internet using a button phone. During 2021 they are working to scale The Hero Loop worldwide.
Who we are
Our board
Ann is the founder and Secretary General of Hack for Earth Foundation, and also Head of the board of the Hack for Earth Foundation. Ann is also the CEO of Hack for Earth AB and Hello Planet E.
With Hack for Earth Foundation, Ann is creating an international , communitydriven platform for global changemakers. A place where people, companies, government agencies, municipalities, NGO’s and all other organizations who are passionate about global change, come together to shape our sustianable future.
This is how Ann sees we will reinvent democracy for the 21st century – inviting all who want to contribute, regardless of background, gender, age or formal competence to #hackforearth.
Before joining the global innovation scene, Ann has a background in psychology, and has worked more than a decade as a licensed psychologist in Sweden. She believes taking action is the road to success, and is a frequent international speaker on communitydriven innovation and the power of hackathons.
Mikael is a Swedish entrepreneur with a portfolio of a group of companies under Sprout Park within entrepreneurship, digitalization and education. He is the founder and CEO of the co-working space The Park with 1000 members from 300 companies in Stockholm. Co-founder of SUP46, Start-Up-People of Sweden and partner at Hyper Island School of Digital Media. In retail he is involved as a partner in two start-ups Livfs and Bambuser.
Mikael is an innovator using digitalization as the fuel for ideation and has more than 20 years of experience from working with digital projects and focusing on business development, innovation and the entrepreneurial possibilities in the industry. Mikael frequently travels the world giving speeches and running Master Classes in digital transformation for big corporations, and organizations. He is also on the board of a number of organizations and act as an advisor in digital and education to the Swedish government. Mikael is proud member of the board - and the mission - of the Hack for Earth Foundation, believing this initiative has the potential for real global change.
Marie Claire is no stranger to questioning status quo. In her teens she was an environmental activist, engaged from local to county to national level in some of the most established organizations. However, she was not in the no-saying marches but rather on the search for innovations and new ways of engaging and solving.
Her passion to explore and build new ventures lead to China in her 20s, with .com to multinationals in her portfolio. Since then putting East on the startup ecosystem’s map in the Nordics has been a mission and the other way around.
In the midst of family and company building life threw MC a curve ball in the loss of her life partner. However with a good dose of grit and patience (!) she has leveled her network and started anew. Perhaps COVID-19 and climate challenges can also unlock opportunities and be windows to new dreams? Few are as optimistic and solution oriented as Marie Claire!
Now, connecting unexpected alliances is a key driving force to find sustainable solutions. Some goals like the UNSDGs, are more important than others, and Marie Claire wants to support making an impact, walk the talk.
She believes Hack For Earth Foundation is an amazing platform for citizens to do just that, engage. In her daily capacity you find Marie Claire at Business Sweden where she has a unique mandate to support Swedish companies in growing global sales and support international companies invest and expand in Sweden.
Our Head of Build for Earth
Kristofer is a psychologist with a Ph.D. in psychology and a multiple published author.
For 15 years, Kristofer has worked as a manager and psychologist for the Swedish company Psykologpartners, developing and implementing internet-based interventions for psychological wellbeing in the health care sector, expanding the scope of using psychological knowledge in digital interventions.
Examining the effects of these interventions has been the main theme of Kristofer’s research. It explores how psychology can support people in choosing valued behaviors in their everyday lives, and create a better society for all. This is also a strong driving force for Kristofer.
Kristofer is the mastermind behind the unique Build for Earth acceleration program, based on science and designed to make the winning solutions from our global hackathons come to life. As Head of Build for Earth, Kristofer is working closely with winning teams from our hackathons, on how to optimize collaboration for success, supporting the winning teams on their journey from great solutions to useful tools. Understanding human behavior and how effective, goal oriented teams collaborate is a key ingredient.
Get in touch
We would love to hear from you! Contact us for more info on how to make a donation to the foundation, partnerships or if you have general inquiries.