From 26 to 28 June 2025, the city of Paderborn hosted the first-ever COLOURS student-led hackathon, titled “COLOURful Impact: Shaping Your City.” The event took place at the Akzelerator (Garage33) and brought together 28 full-time participants, including students and staff from all 9 COLOURS partner universities. In total, 58 people engaged in the event over three days.
This hackathon was more than just a competition — it was a proof of concept: a team of 10 students from 5 COLOURS partner universities designed, led, and delivered the entire event. These students worked together for months, supported by Laura Hölscher from the COLOURS Coordination and Support Office, to create a space where ideas could flourish across disciplines and cultures.
Under the theme “Shape Your City,” the hackathon focused on the challenges of urban planning, tackling key aspects such as demographic change, social inclusion, civic engagement, and digital tools like digital twins. Participants were grouped into six teams, each addressing one of the six proposed challenges — from real-time urban problem-solving to mobility and gamified community-building. Teams were formed in advance based on participants’ preferences, and then adjusted on-site.
Six mentors supported the event, including members of the COLOURS Coordination and Support Office — Basel Myhub, Chris Schattka, Annette Klinkert — and Julius Soutine from Kristianstad University. From UniverCity Bochum, Lisa Schiemenz and Sherin El Safty also guided the teams throughout their journey. The final jury included representatives of the city of Paderborn, notably Frau Claudia Warnecke, ensuring a close link between the event and local urban realities.
The hackathon’s main outcomes were twofold:
- It showed that students can successfully organise and implement a large-scale international event, offering a replicable model for other COLOURS universities.
- It generated interest and enthusiasm from the city of Paderborn, which expressed willingness to consider the submitted projects in its urban development strategies.
A moment that captured the spirit of the hackathon occurred on Friday afternoon: as tension and fatigue settled in, participants spontaneously launched a Just Dance session, creating a fun, collective break that helped everyone re-focus.
For the organising team, a major lesson was the need for adaptability and improvisation — even after six months of preparation, on-the-spot problem solving was essential.
Participants left the hackathon inspired. One striking insight from participants was their shared desire to use technology to reconnect people with real life, rather than isolate them in digital alternatives. Many expressed a desire to carry forward similar initiatives at their home universities and to stay connected with COLOURS. For them, the event was a chance to reflect on teamwork, communication in English, and how to merge diverse ideas and cultural perspectives into concrete solutions.
Acknowledgements
We warmly thank the City of Paderborn, Garage33, all mentors and jury members, and of course, all participants.
Thank you to the students that participated in designing and organising this event – Piergiorgio Mazzotti, Irene Baldi and Valeria Licitra (UNIFE), Endijs Eihlers (VUAS), Zofia Piwowarska (JDU), R. Cem Mahanoglu, Markus Wienkemeier and Sabrina Jordt (UPB)and Alicia Lucas and Nicolas Thieffry (LMU).
A very special thank-you goes to Laura Hölscher — without her dedication, this event would not have been possible.
