Educational Hackathon: What Scenarios for a Decarbonised Society by 2040?

One thousand six hundred fourth-year students from EMLV, ESILV, and IIM took part in a hackathon focused on decarbonising society. Working in 270 multidisciplinary teams, they explored carbon reduction scenarios across seven key sectors: agriculture and food, banking and finance, construction, culture, industry, digital technology, and transport and mobility.

For one week, students collaborated in cross-disciplinary teams to design future-oriented scenarios and propose actionable solutions to support the ecological transition.

A Collaborative and Educational Challenge

Over four days, students developed concrete proposals addressing climate-related challenges. The hackathon structure was based on two main deliverables:

• A poster summarising the issue, the strategy adopted, and the stakeholders involved
• A scenario aimed at raising awareness, presented as a video or in virtual reality

Supervised by 70 coaches and assessed by professors, administrative staff, and experts from all three schools, participants combined their skills in management, engineering, and digital to design solutions grounded in economic and technological reality.

A Collective Challenge for Future Graduates

Several key themes emerged among the projects presented:

• Banking and finance: redesigning economic models for greater environmental responsibility
• Construction: promoting low-carbon materials and improving building energy efficiency
• Aviation and river transport: proposing innovations to reduce emissions in mobility

Sustainable fashion: identifying alternatives to polluting textile industry processes
The students used various methods, relying on market research, change adoption models, and stakeholder-oriented communication strategies.

Building Skills Through Experience

The hackathon helped participants develop key competencies:

• Change management: articulating arguments, negotiating, and engaging stakeholders
• Critical thinking and innovation: challenging assumptions to strengthen proposals
• Applied creativity: generating ideas on paper before moving to digital modelling

The experience also highlighted the importance of teamwork and the value of combining different areas of expertise to tackle complex challenges.

Expert Guidance to Support Structured Thinking

Mentorship played a crucial role in the success of the hackathon. Under the guidance of Professor Jérôme Vaillant, students explored change adoption dynamics and stakeholder engagement strategies.

Bastien Sabatier helped them structure their scientific posters, while Marie-Jeanne Gouraud (Performancétik®) coached them on presentation techniques and motivation management.

Professor Madan R. contributed insights from data analysis, enhancing the clarity and impact of the students’ visual materials. These contributions enabled participants to sharpen their ideas and communicate their solutions more effectively.

A Pedagogical Approach Aligned with Contemporary Challenges

As the 30th edition, this hackathon reflects the commitment of De Vinci Higher Education to integrating environmental challenges into its teaching methods.

By confronting students with real-world problems, the goal is to prepare them to address tomorrow’s challenges with innovative and practical solutions.

Learn more about EMLV’s hybrid, interdisciplinary, and learning-by-doing approach to education.