7th "Water4Future" Hackathon on water resources to find innovative solutions

[Press release] - Published on February 13, 2025 in Press Corner, Science-Society

The Water4Future Hackathon Etudiants 2025, organized by the ICIREWARD International Unesco Center and the University of Montpellier, will take place on February 20 and 21. It will bring together 450 students from universities and engineering schools, divided into 83 teams representing 16 countries in Europe, Africa and North America. Students will have 48 hours to set up an innovative project with a positive social and environmental impact. Academician Erik Orsenna will also be on hand on the second day to coach the teams, either on-site or remotely.

An important event

During these two days, students from all over the world will be setting up innovative projects to address water-related issues. As in previous years, participants will discover the theme 48 hours before the start of the event. This hybrid innovation competition is organized by the UNESCO ICIREWARD International Center for Inland Water in Montpellier. Its aim is to unleash the creativity of future players in the water sector, raise their awareness, give them a voice and open them up to the international dimension of water-related issues.

Recent climatic events have revealed the urgency of water-related challenges. From flooding in the north to persistent drought in the south, these phenomena, aggravated by pollution, are a reminder of the importance of sustainable management of this vital resource. These problems know no borders: on a global scale, they affect every region.

That's why, for the 2025 edition of the W4F Student Hackathon, young people from France (Montpellier, Alès, Paris, Albi, Reunion Island), Europe (Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Hungary, Finland), Africa (Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, South Africa) and North America (Canada) will be brainstorming technical, regulatory and social solutions. Accompanied by experts and professionals, their objective is to respond to a current issue, to commit and act for more sustainable water. At the end of the two-day event, the solutions will be presented to a jury of international professionals, who will award prizes to the best projects.

The two-day program:

• Thursday, February 20: opening at 9 a.m. with official speeches at 10 a.m., followed by a working day for students.
• Friday February 21: work continues, with the semi-finals starting at 2.30pm and the final at 5pm.

The ICIREWARD Unesco Center

The UNESCO ICIREWARD (International Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Water Systems Dynamics) is the first and only UNESCO research and training center dedicated to inland water in France. Located in Montpellier, it is one of the largest of its kind in the world. ICIREWARD brings together and strengthens the collaboration of nearly 480 scientists and 180 PhD students in 18 research laboratories. The Center's scientific community thus forms a rich multidisciplinary and international network to improve understanding of water-related issues. Research focuses on hydrological, chemical and biological sciences, as well as social sciences, to provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary expertise on the challenges of water resources: availability, quality, sharing and extreme phenomena (floods, droughts). ICIREWARD works all year round with schoolchildren, students and the general public.