HackS+T+Arts: Circular Futures | Winners Announcement

Thanks to the support of S+T+Arts Regional Centers and the contribution and active support of the mentors and speakers, the event has achieved more than we ever expected, with 8 teams or individuals participating and sharing their creative ideas!

HackS+T+Arts: Circular Futures 1st Prize €1,500

Project: Navanthus

Team: iGEM Thessaly 2022

The project “Navanthus” by the team iGEM Thessaly 2022 won the first place and their project proposed solutions that combined science, technology, and art for a sustainable future for all. The group's goal is to combat the phenomenon of pollution in aquatic ecosystems caused by excess nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrates, while also raising public awareness of ecosystem protection. So, their project proposed the construction of a floating platform in the form of a cultural center bearing plants that will absorb excess phosphorus and nitrates through their roots and use these elements for their growth. All platform materials will be environmentally friendly, biodegradable, and reusable, with dominant ‘mycelium’, a bio-material derived from fungi. Young and old citizens will be able to engage in a variety of activities on the floating structure, including meals, educational workshops on how to use this bio-material lifestyle in everyday life, as well as cultural and artistic events.

HackS+T+Arts: Circular Futures 2nd Prize €1,000

Project: Circular places: A Handbook to Euphoria

Name: Eleni Linaki

Ms Eleni Linaki's project “Circular Places: A Handbook to Euphoria” won second place, and her proposal connects three major axes: science, technology, and art. The main idea is to determine how a citizen of any age can become acquainted with circular economy concepts such as sustainability, resilience, and resources. The goal is to create an ‘open data’ sensory website with three main components: (a) a user manual with basic concepts and guidance on how to navigate the website; (b) a library and map resources; and (c) a euphoria index. Each user finds a 'circular resource' that makes him feel good or bad (for example, a sunny clean forest), then records/ photographs/ draws it. Following that, the user uploads it to the website and evaluates it. As a result, the entire process not only provides multiple information useful for other users (artists, educators, ordinary citizens), but also an automatic base of cartographic and informational data, as well as an index of euphoria at the neighborhood, municipality, or national level.

HackS+T+Arts: Circular Futures 3rd Prize €500

Project: Plastic Futures

Team: Conscious Dives

Conscious Dives, an interdisciplinary group, received third place for their project "Plastic Futures." Nadia Skordopoulou's interactive underwater art installation “Plastic Futures” was created as a result of her interdisciplinary collaboration with marine biologist Ferdinando Laconi. It is a visitable site-specific installation that is intended to serve as an underwater biological station for the collection of environmental data, with the contribution to Apostolos Roditis’ mechanical engineering research. The aim of the project is to inform the visitors about the urgent issue of plastic pollution and to raise awareness on the immediate need to protect the marine environment, by designing a series of artistic and educational activities that will take place around it. These activities, which will be taking into account their environmental footprint, will take the form of ‘experiences’, engaging the visitors and inviting them to actively participate in the protection of the marine ecosystem, through role-playing, DIWO science and artistic creation. The curator of the art installation and the artistic-educational activities is Veroniki Korakidou, interdisciplinary artistic researcher and art theorist.