Hacking at the YouthZone! An exciting opportunity for young creators!

Hello and welcome to the first ever virtual Youth Zone! Whether you’re a Mozfest pro or a new visitor, the Youth Zone is the place to visit for amazing workshops, lightning talks and this year, our first ever Hackathon!

So what is a hackathon?

Hackathon combines the words “hack” and “marathon” where participants will be hacking together experimental, creative and playful projects over the course of Mozfest at a marathon pace! Hackathons originated in software and hardware engineering, but the concept also now applies to other areas, including developing innovative solutions to real world problems.

This year’s Youth Zone Hackathon will take place over the course of two weeks. In week 1, participants will have an opportunity to ideate and upskill, learning new concepts, technologies, and techniques through a series of awesome sessions led by the community! During Week 2, Hackathon participants will have time to work on their concept, attend Youth Zone hosted office hours for help with their ideas and projects, and create a video showcasing their work. We’ll have Moz Fest volunteers and staff on standby to make sure that your projects succeed (especially if you’re using something new you’ve learned at the festival!).

Supporting Social Good and and Improved Environment

Participants between the ages of 13 to 21 can work as individuals or in small groups to design and create a product, service, or business model in two key areas: Social Good and Improving the Environment

Project submissions that relate to social good should aim to help solve or alleviate issues in that participant’s community. A few examples of social good projects could include:

• A fun educational game
• A Medical Awareness Website
• A Concept for distributing meals to those in need

Those looking to create a project around improving the environment should aim to create projects that directly, or indirectly, help solve common environmental issues they experience. A few examples of projects that help improve the environment could include:

• An app that detects noise levels in a city
• A device for sorting litter
• A website that helps people understand their carbon footprint

What’s in it for the participants?

The Youth Zone Hackathon is a great way for young people to take their new knowledge about platforms, and skills to the next level. Participants will have an opportunity to collaborate with volunteers and students throughout the technology industry, and gain valuable experience as a creator!

Additionally, the Youth Zone team will be sponsoring a series of prizes for the top projects submitted! Stay tuned to learn more about the hackathon structure, prizes, and awesome sessions throughout Mozfest.

How do I join?

You can get a ticket to MozFest at https://www.mozillafestival.org! Grab your pay-what-you-can ticket now to join us for weeks of exciting, educational fun! We’ll be posting more information about the Youth Zone hackathon online, and on the MozFest program! The link to join is https://mozilla.zoom.us/j/9307125081?pwd=ZXNIeUpqUi84RTZpaENna2dYRjMyZz09

Prizes:

The prizes are:

1st place: 100€ Adafruit voucher, 100€ Etsy voucher, 100€ Pimoroni Voucher

2nd place: 100€ Adafruit voucher, 100€ Etsy voucher

3rd place: 100€ Adafruit voucher

There will also be two spots prizes (50€ lego vouchers)