EU Smart – Solving Europe's problems

The European Smart Citizens’ Initiative (EUsmart) is an EU-funded project that is designed to offer innovative solutions for some of the major issues the European community faces today. The initiative is made up of 7 organisations from across Europe - Lithuania, The Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, Estonia, Italy and Hungary. Together we have the talent and the enthusiasm to solve European challenges.

There are a range of challenges facing the EU and its citizens today: improving education levels and creating jobs, meeting the growing challenges in sustainability and the economy, and finding a fair way forward in the process of integration and diversity.The only way to solve these issues is with the active participation of European citizens.

That's why EUsmart will address these issues using the hackathon format, creating solutions and making change happen.

Involve citizens in the democratic process

Foster cooperation between communities in Europe

Share knowledge about Europe issues and innovative ways to solve them

Hackathons are usually 2-day events where the final goal is to create a digital or non digital product.

Hackathons offer a fun and exciting way to bring together citizens, startups and decision-makers to voice the problems society faces every day and look for solutions. After all, a problem shared is often a problem solved. Hackathons present new solutions to the general public, helping to spread ideas and kick-start new movements!

Want to know which topics we´re going to cover in the 7 EUsmart hackathons?

🇮🇹Economic challenges

The COVID-19 health emergency has had many repercussions, first on the social system and then on the economic one. The social distancing measures taken to limit the infection have generated a drastic change in daily life, detaching ourselves from others emotionally and physically. The already difficult situation that Italy was experiencing from an economic and social point of view was immediately exposed by the health emergency, and then worsened and extended to all sectors. In this context, it is important to study different types of phenomena: the suspension of commercial activities and the consequent repercussions on working life; the rise of smart-working and the infrastructural and cultural digital divide related to it; the new forms of interaction and relationship that transform our emotions; and, finally, the enormous fluctuation of world markets. To face such a far-reaching crisis, the measures taken not only at national level, but also supranational and international will be decisive.
Youth unemployment is even more worrying. Around 28 percent of young people aged 15-24 who want a job are unemployed, almost double the European average of 15.4 percent.

Mentors
Information will be available soon
🇱🇹Data-driven education

Lithuania's priority within the Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Learning is at a crossroads. Driven by changing demands from both students and employers, and a global shift towards remote working and learning, we are witnessing a transformation in the way education works and what it is for.

Education is key to shaping the future, and higher education institutions are failing to help develop the skills needed to get the jobs of the future. That's why using accessible data-driven education is important in empowering the acquisition of effective career skills and increasing employability.

Mentors
Information will be available soon
🇪🇸Refugees

Refugees have taken center stage in Europe since 2015, and the start of the misnamed "refugee crisis" that continues to rock the continent. Every year, Spain receives thousands of asylum applications from third-country citizens, which means that these people have to receive appropriate treatment and rights. These have been defined internationally since the 1951 Geneva Convention, where the Statute of refugees was postulated, and in the subsequent protocols that have been concluded. A minimum level of rights have to be guaranteed to these people so that they can rebuild their lives again and integrate into a tolerant and welcoming society.

Mentors
Information will be available soon
🇪🇪LGTBQ+

Section 12 of the Estonian Constitution states that everyone is equal before the law. No one should be discriminated against on the basis of nationality, race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, origin, religion, political or other views, property or social status, or on other grounds. Incitement to hatred, violence or discrimination is prohibited and punishable by law. Yet conservatives are not supporting the values of the EU, and therefore the values of Estonia. This hinders integration, multiculturalism, and the development of equal rights, resulting in damaged relations within society and a negative image of the country.

Mentors
Information will be available soon

Turing School, the leading partner of the EUsmart project, is a lithuanian social organization that was founded in 2017 to teach digital skills and programming to children. It is a non-formal school that focuses on IT and entrepreneurship, and has a strong background in academia.

Soon after its foundation, Turing School established a partnership with Harvard CS50, Harvard’s introductory course on Computer Science. Guided by experienced academics, Turing School students learn skills like computational thinking and technological creativity that are fast becoming crucial in our digital society.

As a non-profit, Turing School runs coding workshops, courses, and public events, building communities around these activities.
Turing Students Rotterdam focuses on bringing the world of tech and data science closer to students here at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. As a nonprofit foundation we have the freedom to focus solely on the value we provide to these students, and our approach to doing so is multifaceted. We host events with industry experts, academics, and influential individuals, offer coding courses ranging from python to R, and foster a community of like-minded individuals. We help students take their first steps into this amazing yet often daunting field.
Involved is a non-governmental organization aiming at creating possibilities for life-long learning and fostering the development of individuals on a local and international level. By enabling participation in activities and developing practical skills, we aim to broaden horizons and encourage more active participation in civil society. We are working in the field of education and are interested in intercultural learning, integration, equal rights and human rights. Our organization was established in 2012.
The “Asociación Cultural Somos Europa” was born with the goal of ensuring the young people of our province (Granada) know more deeply what Europe is, and its different cultures, languages, ways of understanding life, and history. We want to strengthen European identity using intercultural knowledge as a tool. We also want our young people to be socially more participative, and to be committed to being autonomous and engaged with social problems. We want them to make decisions for themselves and become drivers of change. We favor the acquisition of skills through non-formal education (such as workshops, project development, cultural activities, and volunteering).
TUCEP - Tiber Umbria Comett Education Programme - is a non-profit association of twelve Italian universities and numerous enterprises and public authorities. The mission of TUCEP is to foster and develop collaboration between universities and the world of work through the implementation of research and training projects. These projects are aimed at promoting innovation and quality in education and training, and encouraging social inclusion, entrepreneurship and European values at the regional, national, and European level.
Body Svetloba was officially established in 2017 as an NGO for education and humanitarian activities. It gives individual help to students with learning difficulties in English language. In the field of NGO work, it deals with Global Education, Sustainable Development Goals, Official Development Assistance, ancient cultural heritage, migrations, indigenous people, healthy life, foreign languages, music and art.
WOMEN GO TECH is the first mentorship & tech content program in Lithuania designed for women who seek to start or accelerate their careers in tech and engineering sectors.