The Hansa Hack hosted by ACEEU combining the efforts of both projects INDEED as well as Creative Communities First (CCF) at the Hansa Berufskolleg stood out as a truly innovative and engaging event.
The innovative element arises from the fact that despite hackathons being widely used in the technology sector, it is little known in VET or in entrepreneurship education. In a novel endeavour, ACEEU pioneered the execution of a hackathon which are commonly used to solve technical problems, to an arena adapted to solve problems based on creativity and inclusion.
The Hansa Hack was a test of the Inclusive Entrepreneurship Hackathon Guide which was developed by ACEEU with the support of the INDEED partners. The methodology is based on the belief that hackathons represent an ideal strategy to fulfil the dual objective of consolidating learning about digital tools and inclusive approaches and linking the work with real life COVID related business challenges. The challenge for the students the occasion was to develop a digital solution (product, service, process) that helps to prepare creatives or the creative industries to be more resilient for the future, with the aim to bring students and educators closer to the societal issues that such industries have faced and keep facing today, as demonstrated by the research and results of the CCF project.
Over participants who were students from the Hansa Berufskolleg took part in a daylong event where they were introduced to both EU-funded projects and encouraged to make use of ACEEU’s SPIKE Acceleration process which is based on the design thinking process which cover the elements of scoping, empathy, defining, idea generation and evaluation, prototyping and testing, business model design and pitching.
The Hackathon concluded with three super impressive teams pitching their ideas in front of a jury and winning cash prizes which would be used to contribute a meaningful initiative back to the school. After an intense and productive day, participants reported feeling exhilarated and fiercely motivated in the field of entrepreneurship.