29-31 July 2022, Bali, Indonesia - UNITAR, the University of Geneva and Open Geneva organized the first SDG Open Hack! Bali on Tackling Waste Management through Innovation, from 29-31 July 2022.

Hosted by the Jimbaran Hub, in collaboration with the Meaningful Design Group, the SDG Open Hack! Bali aimed to leverage collective intelligence and community building to find innovative and practical solutions towards waste management for Bali. Students, activists, and professionals took part by proposing critical waste management challenges to be collectively addressed by the local communities. 

“SDG Open Hack! Bali is one of 10 hackathons in Asia and is a collaborative project between the University of Geneva, The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Geneva Tsinghua Initiative, Open Geneva. The SDG Open Hack project is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.” said Dr. Thomas Maillart, Professor at the University of Geneva. 

Waste management is one of the biggest environmental and social challenges today since it affects the economy, especially the sector of tourism as the largest industry in Bali, as well as public health.

The hackathon started with the SDG Innovation Bootcamp training, providing global and localized knowledge around waste management, as well as tools and methodologies for innovating on the waste management challenges. The three best prototyped solutions were selected on the last day of the hackathon, and will receive special mentoring from the Meaningful Design Group to produce scalable impact.

“For the first time, SDG Open Hack! Bali enables the local communities, including the strong presence of youth, to connect on the ground, and address their needs for practical solutions on waste management education.” said the UNITAR representative, Afroditi Anastasaki. 

The hackathon was driven by the traditional Balinese philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, which aims in implementing the connection among the three realms of humans, nature, and spirituality, by placing the local Balinese community at the center. 

“The presented solutions will have the opportunity to be part of future events such as the Bali Fab Fest on 12-22 October 2022 to be held together with the Fab Foundation, Fab City, The Center for Bits and Atoms Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Jimbaran Hub. It is hoped that in the future there will be many similar activities to encourage Indonesian people to enhance their problem-solving skills creatively.” said Dr. Putu Agung Prianta B.Eng (Hons)., M.A., CEO of Jimbaran Hijau.