The CIRCULAR CAMPUS 2030 Hackathon is the last event organised in the frame of the Joint Call activity Circular Campus 2030. This activity is organised by POLITEHNICA Bucharest and is designed for the final collaborative phase of the project, bringing together all thematic directions, methodologies and research outcomes developed throughout the previous online workshops and the Istanbul on-site activity.

Building upon the interdisciplinary foundations established during the programme, participants will work in international teams to develop integrated and scalable strategies for transforming university campuses into circular living laboratories aligned with the objectives of the European Green Deal and the United Nations Agenda 2030.

The hackathon will approach the university campus as a complex micro-urban ecosystem where energy systems, water networks, waste streams, mobility flows, governance structures, spatial organisation and user behaviour are deeply interconnected. Participants will therefore be encouraged to move beyond isolated technical solutions and instead develop systemic, interdisciplinary and implementation-oriented proposals.

The event will integrate the three major thematic dimensions developed throughout the programme:

– SDG-oriented sustainability impact assessment methodologies developed within the UPM workshop;

– Water circularity and resource resilience approaches introduced by ITU;

– Circular waste management and waste-to-resource systems explored during the UPB workshop.

These thematic components will be further connected with:

– campus energy efficiency strategies

– adaptive reuse of underused campus spaces

– nature-based and spatial circularity approaches

– governance and stakeholder engagement mechanisms

– and implementation pathways supporting long-term circular transition

During the two-day hackathon, participants will engage in:

– stakeholder briefing sessions

– on-site campus analysis and mapping activities

– interdisciplinary teamwork and systems thinking exercises

– development of implementation scenarios and circularity strategies

– sustainability impact assessment exercises aligned with SDGs 11, 12 and 13

– and the preparation of final proposals and roadmap contributions

Special emphasis will be placed on:

– technical feasibility

– scalability and transferability across EELISA campuses

– integration between environmental, spatial and governance dimensions

– and the capacity of proposed solutions to contribute to climate neutrality and resource efficiency objectives for 2030

The hackathon is designed not only as an educational exercise, but as a collaborative innovation environment where students test methodologies, generate applied knowledge and contribute to the development of a transferable Circular Campus Living Lab Framework for the EELISA Alliance.

The final outputs are expected to include:

  – conceptual and spatial strategies

 – feasibility-oriented implementation scenarios

 – DG-aligned sustainability impact evaluations

 – policy recommendations

 – and contributions to the Circular Campus 2030 Roadmap presented to institutional stakeholders and partners

WHEN

15 to 16 April 2027

WHERE

Onsite at POLITEHNICA Bucharest

APPLICATION

Deadline for application is 1 September 2026

Participation is recommened as a result of the previous workshops held in the context fo Circular Campus 2030