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Scotland’s Environment Web Scotland’s Environment Web wants to helppeople discover and understand more aboutthe environment. Environmental data is reallyimportant – to provide context to reports onthe state and quality of the environment, toimprove our understanding of the challengesand opportunities our environment faces, andencourage communities, school children andindividuals to investigate their own localenvironment further, observing what ishappening around them, collect their own dataand take action to protect and improve theirlocal environment.

Data can help us in this journey of discoveryand understanding. We are looking for freshnew innovative ideas to make better use ofavailable data, to collect new localenvironmental data that can help further our

understanding, and encourage people to getinterested and get involved in Scotland’sEnvironment – observing, monitoring, takingaction, and educating.

What makes a good Hackathon Idea?Whilst it’s the idea that counts rather thanhaving a finished product by the end of theevent, your idea should focus on a conceptthat the judges think has real potential toultimately be developed into a workingproduct. We want you to think about who yourtarget audience is, come up with solutions thatcould easily be used by them and can make areal difference in helping people to observe,monitor, take action and educate about theenvironment.

We’re holding a Hackathon with prizes for :

Innovative data mash ups to explorenew data relationships to help analysethe state of our environment and theimpact it has on usInfographics, visualisations and gamesusing data to help explainenvironmental issues and/or view ‘myenvironment’Prototype designs for new datacollection and data entryequipment/apps

In particular, we’re really interested in yourideas around the themes of Climate ChangeClimate Changeand/or My EnvironmentMy Environment – but don’t worry, ifyou have ideas on another environmentaltheme then we still want to see them.

Inspiration and IdeasWe've gathered together some videos andtools to help inform and inspire our students.Air - VIDEO: Air pollution is one of the biggestVIDEO: Air pollution is one of the biggestrisks to human healthrisks to human health

Water - VIDEO: We still need to worry aboutVIDEO: We still need to worry aboutour waterour waterSoil - VIDEO: Why are soils so important to ourVIDEO: Why are soils so important to ourenvironment?environment?Education - VIDEO: Young people and citizenVIDEO: Young people and citizensciencescienceCommunity Engagement - VIDEO: Why isVIDEO: Why isenvironmental data so important?environmental data so important?Nature -VIDEO: Wild ScotlandVIDEO: Wild ScotlandSustainability City Visualisation Tool - Abertay- Sustainability City Visualisation ToolSustainability City Visualisation ToolSustainability City Visualisation Tool - Abertay- VIDEOS: Sustainability City Visualisation ToolVIDEOS: Sustainability City Visualisation ToolKeep Scotland Beautiful - Eco-Schools - TenTenEnvironment TopicsEnvironment TopicsClimate Change - VIDEO: What is it? TheVIDEO: What is it? Thechanges in climate that we are experiencingchanges in climate that we are experiencingand the responses of different organisations,and the responses of different organisations,businesses and communities.businesses and communities.Climate Change - How local communities areHow local communities aregetting involved and taking action on climategetting involved and taking action on climatechangechangeClimate Change - How weather data isHow weather data isanalysed to investigate patterns of climateanalysed to investigate patterns of climatechange in Scotland. The Climate Trendschange in Scotland. The Climate TrendshandbookhandbookMobile Apps - Mobile apps are a great way toMobile apps are a great way toget people interested and involved in theirget people interested and involved in theirlocal environmentlocal environmentInfographics - A picture says a thousandwords: AirAir EcosystemsEcosystems LandLand WaterWater

Prizes:

Amazon Vouchers or 12-monthsubscription to STUFF magazinePebble watches

The data list is now available to view online. Ithas been compiled to include data made

available by our partners and also othersources of data available online that have anenvironmental, social or scientific theme. It isimportant to note that participants of EcoHackare not limited to the listed data sources.Download the datalist hereDownload the datalist here.

If you’re at University and interested in theenvironment, gaming, app development,graphic design, product development, dataanalysis, then this event is perfect for you. Theevent is free to attend and we are looking foryou to register as an individual. At the event,you’ll get the chance to team up with others(teams of between 2-6). It’s a great way ofmeeting new like-minded people on newchallenges.

Sign Up NowSign Up Now

Dr Emily CreamerDr Emily Creamer

Emily is a researcher in theSchool of Geosciences atthe University ofEdinburgh. She is currentlya UK partner onR&DialogueR&Dialogue, an EU projectoperating across 11

european countries,seeking to widen publicengagement in low carboninnovation. Find out moreFind out moreabout Emily...about Emily...

Iain ElderIain Elder

Iain is a software engineerat skyscannerskyscanner, he has fiveyears experience as a dataprofessional with expertisein data collection, dataquality management, andautomating businessprocesses. He graduatedwith a BSc in internetcomputer science from theUniversity of St Andrewsand has recentlycompleted an MSc inBusiness Intelligence atthe University of Dundee.At the EcoHack you willhave the chance to learnfrom his technicalexperience in a fast-moving business, and gettips on how to present yourideas effectively.

Tim FosterTim Foster

Tim is interested in citizenscience, particularlyhelping with Clyde RiverClyde RiverFoundationFoundation website andOpenStreetMap ScotlandOpenStreetMap Scotland.He is the SEPASEPA EcologyData Manager and hassome experience withusing R for data analysisand QGIS /postGIS forspatial analysis.

Paul GeorgiePaul Georgie

Since 2005, Paul has beendesigning, building andpromoting the use ofgeospatial technologiesacross low income areasboth at home, and aroundthe globe. In 2012, Paul co-authored the Glasgow'swinning TSB Future CityDemonstrator bid, leadingthe technology platformdevelopment. At the AGIGeoCommunityConference in 2013, Paulwas awarded 'Best Paper'for his designs on the useof GIS for a Future City

Glasgow. His commitmenttowards communitydevelopment wasrecognised in 2014, afterreceiving Commendationat the ScottishGovernment's Quality inPlanning Awards for a pilotCitizen Science MappingCitizen Science Mappingprojectproject in the Carse ofGowrie. When not teachingand building open sourcegeo-solutions, Paul takesto the sky (with CAAapproval of course) to 3Dsurvey the world'slandscapes.

Patrycja GraczykPatrycja Graczyk

Patrycja is currentlyworking towardscompleting her MScdegree in CarbonManagement at theUniversity of EdinburghUniversity of Edinburgh.Her passion for tacklingcomplex climate changeissues and transitiontowards low carboneconomy has inspired herto organise a globalsustainability jam. Seeinghow open data andtechnology will supportthis transition is one of thereasons why she isinvolved with the ecohack.personally patrycja hasinterest in smart citiesstrategies, living labs andpublic engagement in theclimate change issues.

John IsaacsJohn Isaacs

I am currently a Lecturer inthe School of ComputingSchool of ComputingScience and Digital MediaScience and Digital Mediaat Robert GordonUniversity. My originalbackground is in biologywhere i first discoveredhow useful computerswere in other disiplines. Ithen went on to do anotherundergraduate degree incomputing, whichprogressed into a PhD ininteractive visualisation invirtual environments. Mymain research interest nowis in engaging people withthe world around them,mainly through interactivevisualisation, but i alsohave a strong interest inmobile devices, webapplications andembedded systems.

Billy MacRaeBilly MacRae

Billy works with thelandscape interpretationteam at The RoyalThe RoyalCommission on theCommission on theAncient and HistoricalAncient and HistoricalMonuments of Scotland.Monuments of Scotland.His team compile HLAdataset and he isinterested to see whathappens when new usersfrom various backgroundsget to use our data innovell ways.

Stuart McGrathStuart McGrath

Stuart is currently onsecondment to EducationEducationScotlandScotland, national body inScotland responsible forsupporting quality andimprovement in learningand teaching, as theirDevelopment Officer forCitizen Science. Whilstworking in his substantivepost at primary school inStirling, he lead outdoorlearning and science anddeveloped the schoolgrounds as a place forlearning and teaching. Heis currently promotingcitizen science withinschools, holdingprofessional learningsessions for teaching staff,visiting local authoritiesand encouraging youngpeople and teachers tocollect and engage withdata.

Peter McKeaguePeter McKeague

Peter is the Database andGIS Project Manager at TheTheRoyal Commission on theRoyal Commission on theAncient and HistoricalAncient and HistoricalMonuments of ScotlandMonuments of Scotland.He is interested in seeinghow people can make useof the wonderfulinformation RCAHMS holdsabout the archaeologicaland built heritage ofScotland in new andexciting ways. For instancehow historic environmentinformation can becombined with data aboutthe natural environmentand ecology of Scotland toencourage its appreciation.

JudgesTim FogartyTim Fogarty

Tim is the EuropeanCommissioner of MajorMajorLeague HackingLeague Hacking, thestudent hackathon league.Every year MLH helpsstudents organise 150hackathons with 50,000participants worldwide.Most weekends, you canfind Tim at a hackathon,giving a hand to organizersor helping participants withnode.js, git, or rubberducking.

Bruce GittingsBruce Gittings

Bruce is a pioneer in theuse of web-basedgeographical information,who is Director of theGeographical InformationGeographical InformationScience (GIS) Science (GIS) programmesat the University ofEdinburgh. Bruce is alsoChair of the GIS ResearchGIS ResearchUKUK conference series, ViceChair of the Association forAssociation forGeographic Information inGeographic Information inScotlandScotland and untilrecently, Vice Chair of theRoyal ScottishRoyal ScottishGeographical SocietyGeographical Society.Bruce is a regular public-speaker, experiencedconsultant (working withorganisations such asGoogle and the NationalTrust for Scotland), hasbuilt online services suchas the Gazetteer forScotland, worked with theScottish Government todemonstrate the benefitsof open geo-data and is acapable UAV pilot.

Sally KerrSally Kerr

Sally is the Digital ServicesManager for the City ofCity ofEdinburgh CouncilEdinburgh Council. She hasa wide portfolio of digitalresponsbilities whichinclude managing thecouncil's digital estate andits digital strategy. She isthe lead for open data.Edinburgh Council isrecognised as one of theleaders in scotland for thisarea and just completed itsdata portal which will bethe gateway to city data,

offering opportunities toshare data stories,solutions to challengesand promotion of opendata and its benefits. Sheruns Edinburgh AppsEdinburgh Apps, thecouncil's civic challengecompetition where winnershave the opportunity towork with the council todeliver their proposals.Sally is keen to promotethe importance of sharingdata to improve the qualityof living in edinburgh forcitizen, visitors andbusinesses and supportssepa's hack as a newexample of how this canbe done.

Professor JonathanProfessor JonathanSilvertownSilvertown

Jonathan is an ecologist,Professor of EvolutionaryEcology and Chair inTechnology-EnhancedScience Education at theUniversity of EdinburghUniversity of Edinburgh. Hehas devised several citizenscience web projects thatcrowdsource biologicaldata. iSpotnature.org iSpotnature.org is asocial network that rapidlyand accurately identifiesobservations of anyspecies of wildlife. Half amillion observations and30,000 species have beenidentified to date.evolutionmegalab.orgevolutionmegalab.org is anonline survey ofpolymorphism andevolution in banded snailsthat operates throughouteurope. treezilla.orgtreezilla.org – TheMonster Map of Trees –aims to map all the trees inBritain and calculate thevalue of their ecosystemservices. Jonathan iscurrently working on a newproject that will enablestudents and others tocreate their own mobileapps based on open andcrowd-sourced data of allkinds.

Martin ValentiMartin Valenti

With over 25 years’experience in theenvironmental sector,Martin has worked in thefield of environmental andregulatory policy includingdelivery of major projectswith Scottish GovernmentScottish Government

on environmental noiseand contaminated land.More recently, he wasinstrumental in setting upScotland's 2020 ClimateScotland's 2020 ClimateGroupGroup and served a four-year secondment asproject director for thegroup. Now leading onstrategic partnerships forSEPASEPA, working withgovernment anddeveloping political andindustry focused networksto deliver on keyenvironmental outcomes,Martin also has a realinterest in seeing howfuture innovators can helpScotland meet itsenvironmental goals,which can only beachieved through involvingcommunities, citizens andschool children inprotecting and improvingthe environment. Martin isalso a trustee of HelpingHelpingHands AssociatesHands Associates whohave raised in excess of£350k for a range of localand international charities.

British Geological SurveyBritish Geological SurveyCentre for Ecology and HydrologyCentre for Ecology and HydrologyCleanweb UKCleanweb UKForestry Commission ScotlandForestry Commission ScotlandHistoric ScotlandHistoric ScotlandGeo GeoGeo GeoThe James Hutton InstituteThe James Hutton InstituteMarine ScotlandMarine ScotlandNational Biodiversity NetworkNational Biodiversity NetworkRobert Gordon UniversityRobert Gordon UniversityRoyal Commission on the Ancient andRoyal Commission on the Ancient andHistorical Monuments of ScotlandHistorical Monuments of ScotlandScottish Environment Protection AgencyScottish Environment Protection AgencyScottish GovernmentScottish Government

Scottish Natural HeritageScottish Natural HeritageUniversity of EdinburghUniversity of Edinburgh

Before you register for the hackathon, thereare some things you will need to know about....

Intellectual propertyIntellectual propertyIt’s your idea and your work so you have therights to 100% of everything you create atEcoHack. To be eligible for the competition allcode generated from EcoHack should bemade available under an Open license thatallows reuse and redistribution. The reason forthe open licensing of code is becauseEcoHack is about useful outcomes thatanyone can use and build on.

Code and languageCode and languageNo constraints here, you can build in anyprogramming language you like.

Team sizeTeam sizeA team must consist of between 2 and 6people, but no team may have more than 6.

Photography and videoPhotography and videoBy participating all team members consent totheir likeness and voice being recorded byvideo, audio, photographic or other digital orelectronic means. All such recordings remainthe property of Scottish EnvironmentProtection Agency.

Personal InformationPersonal InformationWe will only use your contact details for thepurposes of registration, further informationand a post event evaluation survey. Yourdetails will not be shared or used for any otherpurpose and will be deleted after six months.More information on our data protection and

privacy policies is available herehere - feel free tocontact uscontact us if you have any concerns aboutyour data.

Edinburgh Centre for Carbon InnovationEdinburgh Centre for Carbon InnovationECCI, Old High School, Infirmary Street,Edinburgh, EH1 1LZ

The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation isan award winning, green business venue in theheart of the city centre only 10 minutes walkfrom Waverley Train Station. The uniquebuilding opened in 2013 is the first historic,refurbished building in the UK to achieve thebuilding sustainability BREEAM OutstandingAward. The centre offers top-of-the-rangetechnology in first class surroundings with afascinating and sometimes gruesome historywhere Mary Queen of Scots and Sir WalterScott share the billing with tales of murder andmystery.

What will happen over the Hackathonweekend...

Saturday 30th May

Time Activity Location

9:00Get set up, meet andprepare

Conferenceroom

9:30Welcome, meet thementors

Conferenceroom

9:45Formulate pitches/teamforming

Conferenceroom

10:15 EcoHack! The Pod

13:00 LunchBreak outarea

13:45 EcoHack! Continues The Pod

20:00 Venue closes

Sunday 31st May

Time Activity Location

9:00EcoHack continues (inclbreakfast and lunch)

ThePod/Breakout

14:00Formulate prototype/finishpresentations

ThePod/Breakout

14:30Teams have 10 mins topresent work +Q + A

Conferenceroom

15:30 Judging begins

16:00 Awards, prizes and thanksConferenceroom

16:30 End of EcoHack

Scotland’s Environment WebScotland’s Environment Web site aims to bethe “trusted” gateway to everything you wantto know about scotland’s environment,

bringing together environmental informationand data in one place, so that it is easy to find,view, analyse and interpret. the scotland’senvironment web (life) project is managed byScottish Environment Protection AgencyScottish Environment Protection Agency withsupport from the European Commission LIFEEuropean Commission LIFEProgramme Programme , working with partnerspartners toestablish Scotland’s first environmental datadiscovery portal, providing access to data andinformation held and managed by a widerange of organisations.

Please Contact UsContact Us if you have any queriesabout this event

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