Climate + Health Hackathon

about this event

Welcome to a hackathon dedicated to climate and health! This is a one day, in-person hackathon, organised and hosted by the Climate Change + Health Hub and Office of the Vice-President (International, Innovation + Enterprise).

What makes this hackathon special? Impact-Driven: you will create projects that address a current climate-health challenge. Beginner-Friendly: no prior coding experience? No problem — mentorship and datasets are provided to help you build something great. Mentorship: teams get direct access to on-site mentorship support.

The Challenge. Climate change is the biggest challenge facing the planet as well as a profound global health emergency that endangers billions of people through air pollution, extreme heat, and the spread of infectious diseases. It also directly increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather that can heavily strain public health and emergency response systems. Within the critical 48-to-72-hour window of sudden wildfire evacuations, traditional emergency support services often experience logistical bottlenecks that delay immediate support for local communities. During recent wildfire evacuations in Western Canada – from Summerland to Jasper to Buffalo Narrows to Creighton – thousands of displaced residents, tourists, and responders flooded social media seeking urgent shelter, chronic care refills, medical aid, and accessible transport. While nearby community members possessed an immense willingness to support through grassroots mutual aid with spare rooms, meals, and supplies, vital health requests were scattered across dozens of uncoordinated feeds, so time-sensitive offers were missed, key resources were duplicated, and essential relief was delayed. Our challenge: can you create that next big solution to our climate-health dilemma? Teams are asked to consider: how might we build a real-time data integration tool that aggregates and parses unstructured and fragmented health requests across all social channels into a single, centralized, matching relief dashboard, giving evacuees and community responders one definitive place to connect? In summary, teams are being asked to build a real-time data integration tool that consolidates and centralizes unstructured requests across multiple social channels for wildfire evacuees, first responders, and community members.

Eligibility. Participants must be over 18 years of age. Groups of 3-5 can register, and individuals may also register. Accepted participants will be placed into teams to complement one another's strengths. The official language of the hackathon is English. Having a diverse set of people and backgrounds will be key; teams are encouraged to be as interdisciplinary as possible (for example computer science, public health, engineering, environmental science, sociology). To be prepared, at least one team member — preferably the team captain — is required to attend the virtual info session on Friday, November 27. At least one person on the team needs to bring a computer/laptop on the day of the hackathon. Participants are not expected to be computer science or coding experts; diversity is welcomed, encouraged, and vital to solving climate-health challenges. Mentors will also be available on site to help guide you. Registration Deadline: November 16, 2026. Register soon — limited spots available. Registrants will be notified by email if they are accepted.

The Schedule. Virtual | Friday, November 27: panel discussion and info session/Q&A. Gain deeper insights into the hackathon theme with a panel featuring experts and individuals with lived experience in wildfire evacuation, mutual aid, climate change, and health. Afterwards, participants are invited to stay for an info session to help them prepare. Reminder: at least one team member needs to attend this virtual session; it will be recorded and shared for those who cannot attend. In Person | Saturday, November 28: 8:00 a.m. welcome and introduction; 8:30 a.m. idea pitching; 9:00 a.m. team hackathon; 12:00 p.m. lunch provided by the Climate Change + Health Hub; 12:30 p.m. team hackathon; 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. pitches, judging, and award winners announced.

The Logistics. Location: Enterprise Square, 103 St NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 0B2. Projects must be created during the hackathon on November 28, 2026, and must be saved on a GitHub repository. Teams will have access to on-site mentorship with problem solving, cloud space, and agentic tools. Teams will be equipped with pre-processed sample datasets to simulate real-world conditions, including: Public Data — open-source GIS layers, municipal reception centre locations, road infrastructure, and emergency feeds (for example the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System, Alberta Open Wildfire Maps and Data, OpenStreetMap, Stats Canada, The Canadian Disaster Database and more); Social Media & Community Feeds — historical and mock real-time social media activity detailing evacuee requests, local aid offers, and emergency hashtags.

Judging Criteria. Impact: how effectively does this solution solve the problem? Feasibility: is the solution realistic in terms of technological, legal and other aspects? Implementation: how close did the hackathon project get to a real, working software solution? Innovation: is the solution innovative and creative, and is it using the latest technologies? Health Equity lens: does the solution account for the health of historically marginalized communities who are disproportionately impacted by climate change (for example a health equity lens and social determinants of health)? A rubric will be shared closer to the event.

Prizes and Judges. Judges and prizes will be announced in the coming weeks.

About the Organizers. The Climate Change + Health Hub is a dedicated group of faculty members, staff and students within the College of Health Sciences and across the University of Alberta who are passionate about addressing climate change and its effects on health. The hub fosters meaningful collaboration among researchers, communities, practitioners and policymakers to deepen understanding of how climate change affects health, as well as health-related adaptation and mitigation strategies. It also strives to put research findings into action by inspiring academics, communities, practitioners, and decision-makers to make positive changes that benefit the well-being of our planet and all its inhabitants. The Office of the Vice-President (International, Innovation and Enterprise) operates horizontally across the university, working in close collaboration with leaders, colleges and faculties to lead high-impact partnerships that support the academic mission. It develops strategic partnerships with academia, government and industry that drive societal and economic growth, bridges the gap between discovery and market, provides resources to the entrepreneurial community, and is an administrative and service unit that supports the international and enterprise functions of the portfolio while advancing the objectives of colleges and faculties.

A Special Thank You! We would like to thank Microsoft for providing cloud storage space and on-site mentorship for hackathon participants. Some details will be shared closer to the date, so we advise checking back at this page every so often. We will follow up with every registrant via email as well.

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