Climate Hackathons

Principal Investigators:

Dr. Jennifer Baumbusch

Funding:

UBC SPARC

Funding Year:

2025/2026

Hackathon Overview:

What is a Hackathon?

“A hackathon is an event where people come together to collaborate in order to solve a problem or identify new opportunities. The word hackathon is a combination of “hack” and “marathon,” i.e., a marathon for hackers. The goal of a hackathon is often to build a working prototype, or proof-of-concept, of a product or feature in a short amount of time, and to have fun, improve skill sets, and network while doing it.” (Source)

We will hold two hackathons: one in-person for older adults living in Metro Vancouver and one virtually for family caregivers of children with medical complexity across BC. In addition to these people with lived experience, we will invite policy/decision-makers and non-governmental organization (NGO) staff who support these groups during climate-related weather emergencies.

We anticipate the hackathons will be about four hours in length. After the deliverables from the hackathons are drafted (infographics), we will hold focus groups with participants to obtain feedback on the infographics and about their experiences with the hackathons.

Summary

Climate change is a global phenomenon that has consequences for people everywhere. In every local community and geographic region, there are equity-deserving groups who, due to a variety of factors which often mirror those contributing to climate vulnerability, experience negative impacts of climate change disproportionately to the general population. Climate resiliency efforts, that is, the capacity to prepare, respond and recover from climate emergencies must focus on these groups through the creation of customized climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. While governments have responsibility to develop population-level responses to climate change, equity-deserving groups often rely on grassroots strategies to address local climate impacts.

The aim of this hackathon is to identify grassroots climate solutions used by two equity-deserving groups located in British Columbia: older women in urban centres and families of children with medical complexity.

Older adults have multiple points of vulnerability, including age, gender, income, and housing adequacy. During the Vancouver heat dome in 2021, older women experienced the highest mortality rate. In this project, we will centre older adult’s needs, which are often absent in research, including climate research.

Children with medical complexity are functionally dependent, rely on medical equipment (e.g. wheelchairs, tube feeds, tracheostomies) in daily life, and are high users of healthcare services. Children, in general, are more vulnerable to negative effects of climate change as are people with disabilities, putting children with medical complexity in double jeopardy. During 2021, these children and their families endured multiple climate-related weather emergencies in British Columbia (BC), a situation that highlighted the lack of government supports for their unique needs.

There is an urgent need to develop local climate solutions for equity-deserving groups. These hackathons will create new knowledge about co-design of climate solutions with equity-deserving groups. We will use these events to develop new insights for enhanced research methods, specifically using hackathons as a participatory approach to knowledge mobilization. This project may enhance policy related to climate preparedness in BC and facilitate partnerships among people with lived experience, policy/decision-makers and NGO staff.