Effective Impact Hackathon

May 14th 2022
9:30-20:30 at Fabriken, Textilgatan 31, Stockholm

Humanity is facing serious challenges. Billions of animals are farmed in dire conditions, existential risks like nuclear war and future pandemics need to be regulated, and we have not yet figured out how to feed all 8 billion people this planet hosts. Stockholm boasts amazing universities, specializing in health, economics, and engineering. This hackathon is the ultimate opportunity for students in Stockholm to kickstart an effective project that contributes to solving these kinds of problems (non-students are welcome too!). Our team has outlined the challenges that we think are some of the most pressing. The best proposal, evaluated by the judges, will receive a grant of 25 000 SEK to get kickstarted. The best two runner-up teams will be rewarded with funding for a trip to the next Effective Altruism conference in Berlin in the autumn.

Participation is free and we hope to create an inspiring day for you with free food, experienced mentors, fun and an opportunity to try out a career as a social entrepreneur! You can sign up with a team of maximum 4 persons, or join individually and be paired to a team during the day of the hackathon. You can also connect with other attendees and invite your friends at the Facebook event. The Effective Impact hackathon is a joint event organized by EA Sweden, EA KTH, EA Uppsala and EA SASSE. For any questions or remarks, send an e-mail to robert@effektivaltruism.org.

Hackathon schedule

9.30 Arrival, Registration & Networking
10.00 Kick-off with challenge presentation, what is expected from you
10.30 Team formation & kick-off
12.30 Lunch
13.00-14.00 Online Mentor sessions
14.00-17.00 Hacking
17.00 Dinner
18.00 Pitches for jury
20.00 Winner announcement
20.30 Closing session (and heading towards the Eurovision Song Contest!)

Mentors

**Corin Ism** works at the forefront of governance innovation. As the co-founder of the Future of Governance Agency (FOGA) Ism works to pair governance innovation with the public and its institutions.

**Kalle Nilvér** is co-founder of GoClimate. As a serial entrepreneur, Kalle can help assess the feasibility of your proposals.

**Cecilia Tilli** is the Executive Manager of Effective Altruism Sweden. She has previously run a foundation funding research on the prevention of antibiotic resistance, and worked as a founder and business developer in innovative startups ranging from vegan cheese to transparent solar cells.

**Henri Thunberg** is the founder of Geeffektivt.se, the leading fundraising organization in Sweden for effective charities. Prior to this, he created the app Big Heart, an app which lets you see ads instead of wallpapers, which revenue would go to charity. As experienced fundraiser and charity entrepreneur, Henri is keen to evaluate your proposal.

**Koen Schoenmakers** is a social scientist affiliated to Harvard University and Stanford University who’s work focuses on the risks of global pandemics and the intersection of psychology and effective altruism.

**Karolina Eklöw** is coordinator for the Environment of Peace at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and was there before a research assistant in the area of climate change and risk. With her experience in governance she is especially suited to review policy projects.

**Kristina Sperkova** is president at Movendi International, the largest independent global movement for development through alcohol prevention. Being a policy expert and charity entrepreneur, Kristina will be of great help for submissions for challenge 1.

**Samuel Härgestam** is co-founder and COO at EnginZyme, the world’s first cell-free biomanufacturing company. As expert in bio-technology and entrepreneurship, he can be especially helpful with guidance for challenge 4.

**Daniel Ajudeonu** is a Partnerships, Policy, and Operations Associate at the Youth for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and a member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). He is apt to help with the Nuclear Security challenge.

**Simon Eckerström Liedholm** holds a PHD from the department of Zoology at Stockholm university and is a reseacher for the Wild Animal Initiative. He is keen to help with the Animal Welfare challenge.

**Philip Robertsson** is Operations Manager at Nema Problema in Stockholm, a non-profit working to improve integration of new Swedish immigrants.

Challenges

This hackathon presents 4 possible challenges that participants can take on. You will be in teams of 3-4 persons (either signed up beforehand or paired at the beginning of the hackathon). You have freedom in coming up with project ideas related to these challenges and are expected to present a 5-minute pitch for the jury.

Challenge 1: Global health

Millions of people suffer daily from diseases for which the cure is known and available. Every year around ten million people in poorer countries die of illnesses that can be very cheaply prevented or managed, including malaria, HIV, tuberculosis and diarrhea. There are also emerging threats, such as resistant infections which are estimated to cause 4.95 million deaths annually.

Potential strategies for addressing this challenge could for example involve raising funding for effective projects and interventions, advocacy for system reform or improved policies, or starting up new organizations that help address some specific global health challenge. Read more

Challenge 2: Nuclear security

Nuclear weapons that are armed at all times have the potential to kill hundreds of millions of people directly, and billions due to subsequent effects on agriculture. They pose some unknown risk of human extinction through the potential for a nuclear winter and a social collapse from which it could be very difficult to recover. There are historical examples of moments when the US or Russia came close to accidentally or deliberately using their nuclear weapons.

Nuclear security is already a major topic of interest for governments, which makes it harder to influence the agenda. Most opportunities to influence the risk from nuclear weapons seem to be through work in the military or foreign policy establishments, or research in the think tanks that supply them with ideas for lowering the risk of nuclear conflict. Some less conventional approaches would be working independently to improve relationships between people in the nuclear powers or trying to improve the resilience of the food supply in the case of a serious agricultural collapse. Read more

Challenge 3: Animal welfare

It is estimated that there are over 100 billion animals suffering at factory farms at the moment. It’s 13 times the total number of humans on earth, and the number is still growing. Most experience extreme levels of suffering over the course of their lives due to intense confinement and the removal of body parts. The meat industry is also one of the largest contributors to climate change.

Recent big wins for animals suggest that progress is tractable. Plant-based foods are rapidly gaining market share, while newer animal product alternatives (such as cultivated meat) are being developed. Animal advocates have also successfully prompted farmed animal welfare reforms, through both corporate and legislative commitments. As well as benefiting the animals directly affected, these welfare reforms likely encourage momentum for further progress.

Challenge 4: Preventing future pandemics

The recent example of the COVID-19 pandemic shows the devastating impact pandemics can have on health, economical development and social unrest, and records of plagues throughout history demonstrate the potential of biology to cause global catastrophes. This potential increases sharply considering rapid biotechnological progress, making Global Catastrophic Biological Risks (GCBRs) a significant threat to humankind.

Despite existing efforts addressed to highly related fields like biodefense and public health, the more extreme risks are often overlooked. GCBRs remain a large challenge that seems to be both neglected and solvable. Read more

Effective Impact Hackathon