UKLO COLORS TRIPLE TRANSITION HACKATHON – CHALLENGE-BASED DESIGN AND CONCEPTS

The three-day UKLO COLORS Hackathon 2025 was successfully completed! Through its membership in the COLORS European University Alliance, UKLO has built platforms for international networking and collaboration for the entire academic community. First and foremost, the UKLO students and the COLORS students found themselves in diverse roles where they are building their competencies and advancing. Thus, from November 24 to 26 in Bitola, at the collaborative space and the Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies – FICT, intensive days of conceptualizing solutions for the challenges of society, the planet, and life took place.

The three aspects—socio-economic, digital, and green—were a prerequisite for the teams, composed of university and high school students, to generate solutions that differed in their approach from any other hackathon. Specifically, the triple transition promoted by the COLORS European University Alliance allows young people to consider the big picture. Not just to design one-sided solutions that are either digital, ecological, or for-profit, but to take the harder path (which aligns with reality) and try to design their own future.

The second specific aspect, compared to other hackathons, was that conceptual solutions were expected—solutions not based on budgets and profits, but that, through the newly introduced CIMO logic (Context – Intervention – Mechanisms – Outputs/Outcomes), would think about and address the big picture. Thus, the participants presented their interventions (solutions) to a seven-member jury composed of businesspeople, professors, civil society representatives, and experts in the fields of energy, food, and digitalization. The Hackathon at COLORS is a three-day event that follows the two collaboratoriums UKLO COLORS held in June (Smart Solutions for Food and Energy towards Sustainable Development). Therefore, the organizers of those CoLabs presented the challenges they had identified in reality to the participants, for which this Hackathon now proposed solutions. The majority of the solutions were interdisciplinary, which was both the requirement and the goal. The mentors, who were present with their students throughout the Hackathon, made their knowledge and guidance available to all participants. This is why, in such a short period, exceptionally high-quality proposals and concepts were developed.

The hackathon had over 50 participants from 10 cities, two countries—North Macedonia and Sweden—9 faculties, three high schools, 12 student organizations, 11 mentors … 11 conceptual solutions and lots of collaboration and fellowship.

Over the three days of the Hackathon, participants had the opportunity to hear firsthand inspirational stories from guest entrepreneurs and alumni, as well as take part in physical activities led by a yoga instructor. All of this was organized in the spirit of the alliance by a student team composed of undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students involved in the COLORS Alliance, who took care of many things from start to finish, including media filming and conducting interviews. The coordination was handled by the Collaborative Space Coordinator, Prof. Dr. Mimoza Bogdanovska-Jovanovska, in continuous collaboration with the management of UKLO COLORS, the central administration offices, and the academic head of UKLO COLORS, Prof. Dr. Renata Petrevska-Nechkoska.

At the final presentation, 11 teams presented in two sessions, one for high school students and the other for university students, who, through the principles of the triple transition, addressed both the CIMO methodology and the challenges of food, energy, and inclusion.

The jury ranked the ideas so that appropriate feedback could be provided. The top-ranked teams received branded gifts from COLORS. In her closing remarks, the academic director informed all present mentors and participants that this is only the beginning. And it is a beginning because, within the Student Center for Entrepreneurship in the collaborative space, under the mentorship of professors, the staff of UKLO, these ideas for the high school students will be incubated by the collaborators and associate partners so they can go on to participate in competitions like Junior Achievement and international hackathons. All high school students were invited to become students at UKLO. Meanwhile, opportunities for UKLO students opened up for hackathons organized within the alliance in 2026, collaboratories, and the like. They also received the new ERASMUS notebooks for a successful international experience with lasting memories, as the overall experience within the framework of building the European university of the future has strong roots and COLOURful wings.

We know that there were far more participants than slices of pizza, but perhaps being a little hungry helped the students think more about better solutions. Yes, the criticism is in place, and it won’t happen again.

As the next step, UKLO COLORS invited all participants and mentors in 2026, with an appropriate timeline, to jointly incubate the ideas in the collaborative space of the Student Center for Entrepreneurship, so that by the next UKLO COLORS Hackathon, they would already have fully developed concepts that would be strong candidates for seed funding.

The team mentors looked after not only their own teams but all teams as well, selflessly sharing advice, guidance, insights, and constructive feedback. We are immensely grateful to the mentors, who we invite to be our permanent collaborators at the Student Center for Entrepreneurship in the UKLO COLORS Collaborative Space:

Viktorija Spasevska, RCSOO Gjorgji Naumov, Bitola
Zhaneta Servini, RCSOO Gjorgji Naumov, Bitola
Natasha Miladinovska-Najdovska, SOU Krste Petkov Misirkov, Demir Hisar
MA Ana Kostovska, SOEU Jane Sandanski Bitola
Biljana Jankulovska, SOEU Jane Sandanski Bitola
Gjorgija Gagaleski, SOU Orde Chopela Prilep
Prof. Dr. Monika Angeloska-Dichovska, Faculty of Economics, Prilep
MA Pande Poposki, Faculty of Technology, Bitola
Prof. Dr. Vesna Knights, Faculty of Technology Veles
Prof. Dr. Natasha Tabakovska, FIKT Bitola, UKLO COLORS Student Center for Entrepreneurship
Prof. Dr. Snezana Obednikovska, Faculty of Economics, Prilep, UKLO COLORS, leader of the work package for challenge-based research and innovation

The teams, their ideas, and future collaborations with mentors and students of UKLO COLORS are as follows:

In the hackathon, we had no winners or losers, but an explosion of ideas and concepts that we will continue to work with in 2026.

High schools from Bitola, Prilep, Demir Hisar

No obstacles, concept for an ecologically produced accessory for wheelchairs and other types of wheelchairs, for bridging obstacles, RCSOO Gjorgji Naumov, Bitola
Future Flow, with a concept for older or near-expiry products, from SOEU Jane Sandanski Bitola
Eco Scan, with a concept for reporting and cleaning illegal landfills, SOU Krste Petkov Misirkov, Demir Hisar
Teh Valley, with a concept and prototype for a generator of electricity from water flow, RCSOO Gjorgji Naumov, Bitola
Eco Gen, with a Re-charge fitness center, from SOEU Jane Sandanski Bitola
The Grow Crew, with smart urban greenery, ranked first and received branded bags, from SOU Orde Chopela Prilep

UKLO Faculties:

Vikings on Dragor, FIKA Market, with a concept for handling food before its expiration date, Vikings on Dragor – University of Kristianstad, Sweden, and UKLO COLORS students from TTF Veles and Faculty of Law Kicevo
Green Pulse Digital, with a smart green basket, from the Faculty of Economics, Prilep
TFB Electro, with a concept and prototype for detecting harmful emissions with a handheld device, Technical Faculty Bitola
Green Vibe Innovators, Grounds to green concept for reusing coffee grounds, ranked first and received branded bags

Apart from the competition, the student organizers, who are members of COLORS, presented the concept that will be worked on next year by UKLO COLORS for a platform that will list the competencies of students and their profiles and enable matchmaking with employers in the spirit of the gig economy. There, instead of full-time employment, where they would miss classes, they will be able to have small tasks through which they will earn money in a time and manner that is complementary to their studies. The Alliance will offer this as a platform to all COLORS students, and the pilot will be done by UKLO with the student dashboard.

To complete the first UKLO COLORS Hackathon, organized by students and staff, the international component was provided by partners from Sweden, that is, their student was present, and he was part of the teams. He worked together with UKLO students who previously participated in the Hackathon in Sweden and students who were part of the Hackathon in Germany. Henrik Björkenhal, an ICT student at the University of Kristianstad, Sweden, greeted the attendees by reading in Macedonian and expressed the impression that this whole magical experience is actually what the COLORS alliance is all about.

Check out the photos, and expect short video reports, for the first successful and effective UKLO COLORS Hackathon 2025!

See you at the Student Center for Entrepreneurship, from January 2026, for the incubation of ideas and business models!

Sincerely yours,

UKLO COLORS students and management

The Agenda