Ideas for a Post-Covid City – Ideathon

Although Georgia is touted as a success story for Covid-19 response in its first wave, the pandemics is having an unprecedented impact on the lives of people. The crisis has exposed some of the long-persisting challenges, such as unequal access to education, poverty, gender inequality, environmental sustainability, social distancing, access to services.
Considering new reality and coping to it a project "Ideathon" was implemented in Rustavi, where schoolchildren developed and presented their own innovative ideas for the post-Covid city - how to improve economic and social processes in a pandemic reality.
With the UNDP support, Rustavi Innovation Hub, Orbeliani Georgia and Future Laboratory have teamed up with Rustavi Mayor’s Office to organize the competition and make best of the local assets for the benefit of the society.
Future Laboratory applied its well-tested Project-Based Learning methods with teachers and school students (7th-12th grades), so that the come with ideas on tackling the adverse effects of Covid-19, and environmental, social and economic challenges and help Rustavi Mayor’s office improve providing local services, including the improvement of its pioneer C-bot service. Ultimately 56 children participated in the Ideathon. A jury composed of the local business sector, academia, NGO and donor community and the partners selected 8 most promising ideas to support. Business and Technology University students then offered to mentor the participants to improve their ideas and implement them. Under the activity, on July 16, 2020, Rustavi Innovation Hub organized information tour for Business and Technology University students at the Basalt Fibers.
The finalists pitched live in front of the potential backers so that the ideas receive financial and non-financial support. The online presentation was attended by local business sector, academia, NGO, donor community and self-government representatives from Rustavi, Gori and Tkibuli municipalities.
Orbeliani offered its newly-launched crowdfunding platform to help the finalists gain more supporters and leverage additional funds. As a result, the children raised 243 GEL collectively and received additional material contribution from various parties, e.g. a local gardener donated plants, Basalt Fibers provided materials for Urban Green initiative and similar. About 100 schoolchildren from Rustavi (7-12 grades) took part in Ideathon.
As a result of the competiton 8 ideas were implemented covering -
Innovative virus control program; Teaching a chatbot where do people read books; An air filtration for infant stroller; Learn math with animations; masks for teens; the first online platform of urban farming in Rustavi Using mobile app; and Facilitate the protection of social distance in Rustavi.