17.11.2025
What a weekend! Twenty teams from around the world took part in the hackathon and worked intensively on 15–16 November to create digital stories about our relationship with water.
Two teams received financial prizes from the EU4Ocean Coalition, and the winning team additionally received a one-year Grammarly PRO license. First place went to the JellyFish Pro team, which collaborated remotely with mentors from Gdynia Aquarium. Congratulations to all of them!
All teams worked hard on their solutions. Twelve of them will continue developing their prototypes, which will be featured in December in online and local exhibitions hosted by the hackathon’s partner institutions.
We would like to thank all experts, mentors, partners and co-organisers for their collaboration, and we commend our participants for their courage.
It was certainly an unusual and remarkable challenge.
Hackathon Digiblue: invitation
When and where: 15-16.11.2025 / Gdynia Aquarium
We’re looking for bold, creative minds ready to craft engaging educational stories—visual, interactive, immersive, or multimedia—about aquatic ecosystems. From climate change and biodiversity loss to maritime heritage and civic engagement, your story can shift narratives and inspire action.
You’ll work in teams of 2–7 people. You can form your own team (recommended!) or join an existing one. You don’t need to be a coder—this hackathon welcomes everyone aged 15–25.
Participants will get access to the educational platform. The hackathon organisers provide support in storytelling development, content validation, and using digital tools.
This is an international competition co-organised by nine institutions.
What will we create during the hackathon?
Each team will design digital storytelling concepts (presentations) addressing local or regional issues related to ecosystem degradation, climate change, and sustainable practices.
Your project should focus on aquatic ecosystems and use at least one digital tool. The Gdynia Aquarium exhibition will serve as the backdrop for your stories. Participants may use digital and AI tools—for example, to design film concepts, interactive websites, apps, animations, or other narrative forms exploring the importance of oceans and waters.
Each participant brings their own working tools. The Gdynia Aquarium provides workspace, light refreshments, and writing materials.
Each team must submit:
- a completed submission canvas (DigiEduHack project form)
- a 3-minute pitch in English describing the idea, process, team, and goals
- optionally, a prototype (a demonstrative version of the project)
Evaluation criteria are available on the DigiEduHack challenge page:
https://digieduhack.com/challenges/hack-the-blue-digital-stories-for-a-water-wise-world
Prizes
€700 – for the best solution
€300 – for the runner-up
Participants will also receive gift packs from the local organisers.
Additionally, the best local team will be awarded a behind-the-scenes guided tour of the Gdynia Aquarium.
Hackathon schedule
Saturday, 15 November
9:30 CET / Global DigiBlue DigiEduHack Kick-off (max 15 min), led by BonoLab and Alrose Consulting.
10:00–15:00 CET / Online mentoring sessions available. Local mentoring coordinated by onsite organisers.
Local closing time decided individually.
Sunday, 16 November
9:30 CET – Global check-in (English, max 10 min; at least one team member must attend), led by BonoLab and Alrose Consulting.
10:00–12:00 CET – Online mentoring sessions available.
13:00 CET – Submission deadline.
13:15–15:30 CET – Jury deliberation (online, one shared jury for all locations).
15:30 CET – Global connection and announcement of winners (max 45 min).
How to join?
To participate, contact your local organiser – Gdynia Aquarium (NMFRI).
You’ll need to register as a hackathon participant to receive your participation certificate after the event.
Hackathon idea
Join a global creative hackathon to co-develop digital stories about oceans, rivers, and water systems.
Help us build ocean awareness using AI and digital tools to reveal the hidden value of aquatic life and ecosystems.
Oceans, seas, and inland waters are essential for life on Earth—they sustain biodiversity, regulate climate, and shape our cultural identity.
The DigiBlue project combines traditional storytelling with 21st-century digital tools to raise awareness of our deep interconnection with aquatic ecosystems.
Project partners:
Alrose Consultants Ltd (UK) – alrose.co.uk
Akwarium Gdyńskie MIR-PIB (Poland) – akwarium.gdynia.pl
Baltic Living Lab (Estonia) – balticlivinglab.com
Blue Anew (Global Skills Network, International) – blueskills.eu
BonoLab ApS (Denmark) – bonolab.com
Den Levende Fiskerihavn (Denmark) – denlevendefiskerihavn.dk
Global Skills Network – globalskillsnetwork.org
I Vandet (Denmark) – ivandet.dk
Marine Education Center in Malmö (Sweden) – smkc.se
University of Copenhagen (Denmark) – ku.dk
Polish NGOs:
Fundacja Akwarium Gdyńskiego “Otwarte Morze”
Polski Klub Ekologiczny Okręg Pomorski
Sopockie Towarzystwo Naukowe
The project ‘Digiblue DigiEduHack’ is implemented by Bonolab with the support of the EU4Ocean Coalition, funded by the European Commission.
More information:
https://digieduhack.com/challenges/hack-the-blue-digital-stories-for-a-water-wise-world