Green Ideas from Young People Around the World Gather in Pohang!... Idea Hackathon Concludes Successfully

Green Growth Hackathon Held as Side Event of World Green Growth Forum
76 Teams from 13 Countries Participate, 10 Finalists Compete in Intense Finals

Creative solutions from young people around the world for addressing the climate crisis and advancing the green transition gathered in Pohang.

The Green Growth Idea Hackathon, held as a side event of the 2025 World Green Growth Forum (WGGF), took place successfully from May 14 to 15 at Lahan Hotel in Pohang.

Award ceremony of the Green Growth Idea Hackathon held on the 15th at Lahan Hotel in Pohang. Photo by Pohang City

A total of 76 teams from 13 countries applied to participate in this hackathon. After a preliminary round, 10 teams from Korea and abroad were selected for the finals, where they engaged in intense competition by presenting creative ideas to achieve carbon neutrality.

Under the theme of 'Ideas to encourage carbon neutrality in daily life,' the competition evaluated entries based on a comprehensive set of criteria: creativity of the idea, feasibility, sustainability, systematic approach to collecting carbon reduction data, and level of participation effort.

The event was hosted by Woo Sung-hoon, CEO of the ammonia-based hydrogen company AMOGY. The judging panel included Aaron Dreyer, Deputy Director-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and head judge, Seok Dahyun, Chairperson of Ocean Campus, and Shin Donghoon, Professor at Kookmin University, who provided practical advice to participants.

Aaron Dreyer, Deputy Director-General, remarked, "I was impressed that the proposals went beyond simple ideas and considered the actual applicability to policies and technologies."

The grand prize was awarded to the 'POGREE' team, composed of young people from Korea. This team proposed a simulation game where users' carbon-neutral actions are gamified, and the survival rate of animals changes according to user behavior. They received the highest scores for their gamification strategy and ability to encourage participation.

The excellence awards went to two teams: '3 Peas in a Pod' (Singapore) for their mobile game app 'Eco-Quest,' which encourages sustainable actions, and 'CPR' (Korea) for their platform that rewards low-methane diet practices with local currency.

The encouragement award was given to the 'GreenBite' team (Philippines), which attracted attention by proposing an app that uses AI to analyze food images and calculate an individual's carbon footprint.

This hackathon was significant as it demonstrated that the next generation can actively participate in solving climate issues.

Pohang City expects that the policy and technological solutions discussed at the World Green Growth Forum, together with the creative proposals from young people, will serve as a catalyst for green transition practices and become a new starting point for international cooperation.

Park Sangjin, Head of the Tourism and Convention City Promotion Headquarters, stated, "We have confirmed that the innovative ideas of young people can become new solutions to address the climate crisis. Pohang City will continue to support and pay close attention so that these ideas can be implemented in society."