EdTech Hackathon winning team visits German universities and presents ‘Leko’

The winning team of the German-Brazilian EdTech Hackathon 2024, which took first place with the Green Seed project - now called Leko - travelled to Germany to get to know German universities and their innovation facilities. The winners received a travel grant of 1,800 euros from DWIH-SP (German Centre for Research and Innovation São Paulo) and an intensive German course at the Goethe-Institut Berlin.

The trip also took the team to Münster from 12 to 14 February 2025, where they visited the Brazil Centre of the University of Münster. There, they learned more about the members of the team, the history of the centre and its significant contributions to strengthening and developing cooperation and initiating new collaborations between the University of Münster and Brazil. One Leko team member was especially positive about the visit:

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The visit to the Brazil Centre at the University of Münster was particularly impressive, as it strengthens the links between Brazilian and German researchers and entrepreneurs.

(João Rubens Belluzzo Neto)

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The aim of the trip was to visit the three organising universities - the University of Münster, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin) - and their innovation centres, which promote and accelerate the creation of start-ups. This gave the team the opportunity to exchange ideas with experts from different fields.

The visit to Münster began with a meeting at the REACH - EUREGIO Start-up Center, a centre for the promotion of start-ups, followed by a presentation of their project at the Digital Hub münsterLAND. The four-person team gained valuable insights into the German start-up scene at both institutions. The team also visited the Institute of Geoinformatics, where they gained new perspectives for the further development of the Leko project in a very productive exchange with various questions and suggestions for the project.

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Participating in this hackathon was more than just winning a prize - it was an opportunity to grow, learn and connect with a global innovation system. This experience showed me that hackathons are not just programming marathons, but bridges to unexpected opportunities.

(João Rubens Belluzzo Neto)

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Leko, the winning project, combines environmental education with technology and play. It consists of an interactive compost bin together with a gardening kit and a mobile phone app.  Smart sensors measure the soil temperature, acidity and moisture. It teaches children in a playful way how to use natural resources responsibly and to learn the principle of sustainability at an early age.

The hackathon, organised by the University of Münster, TUM), FU Berlin, the startup re:edu and the Goethe-Institut São Paulo, as well as the DWIH-SP, aims to develop technological solutions for the current challenges of digital education. The event took place at the Goethe-Institut in São Paulo.

The full report in Portuguese on the Leko team's trip can be viewed here.

More information about the German-Brazilian EdTech Hackathon 2024 can be found here:

German-Brazilian Edtech Hackathon 2024

Award for the learning project on proper waste disposal

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