The European Commission, under the leadership of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and in close collaboration with EU Member States, organized on 24-26 of April EUvsVirus hackathon. EUvsVirus is a Europe-wide online hackathon with the aim of connecting civil society, innovators, partners and investors across Europe to develop innovative solutions to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis. The hackathon took place from April.

DRAXIS Environmental SA, one of SIEUGreen partners, joined the hackathon and presented Commurban, a mobile application developed in the framework of the SIEUGreen project. The idea of Commurban is to engage citizens in urban and peri-urban farming methods and act as a crowd-sourced repository of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) projects with step-by-step instructions regarding urban agriculture, smart balcony, greenhouses, community gardens farming techniques, etc. The users of Commurban are also able to initiate large scale projects, such as community projects, i.e. a community garden, where other users can join and participate. Community projects aim to increase the interaction between users at neighborhood, or even city level and create a sense of community work that can foster cooperation and help citizens to produce the essentials. Throughout a planning process, ideas, information and expectations are shared and decisions are made about different options.

The proposal DRAXIS brought to the table is that Commurban could be used not only as an application that can improve citizens mental and physical health, but also as a tool to support users at economic level. Commurban could be further enhanced with additional features, such as blockchain technology, product digital ID, re-engineer gamification to increase engagement mechanics, as well as a marketplace that will allow users to buy services/products through virtual coins earned in Commurban. In such way users will be able to offset their budget expenses and also exchange products/services with other users. Here, you can find additional Information about the project that was submitted to the hackathon, while you can also have a look at the relevant video.