How did Garage48 Narva come to happen?
Narva and Ida-Virumaa are areas with a strong industrial background, rich history, and diverse cultures. This creates a dire need for ideas that would help the community to adjust to both local and global challenges while continuing to thrive under changing conditions. The hackathon format not only helps with materializing the ideas but also allows people dedicated to a common cause to join together and make themselves heard in the first place.
The idea of a community-specific hackathon came from two active citizens Maris Hellrand and Hannes Rumm, which was itself initiated further by the City of Narva with the purpose to include local citizens in the city development planning – thus, Garage48 Narva Community Hackathon was born!
The hackathon came to be in co-operation with Narva City, Startup Estonia, OBJEKT, The British Council, European Commission, KredEx, German Embassy in Estonia, Nordic Council of Ministers´ Office in Estonia, Embassy of the Netherlands, European Regional Development Fund, Ministry of Finance, Tehnopol, United States Embassy Tallinn, Integration Foundation, Swedish Embassy in Estonia. The Estonian Chamber of Disabled People also provided access to the hackathon for people with hearing or vision disabilities.
What challenges was Garage48 Narva exploring?
The four main topics of the challenges were developed by mapping the most relevant problems the citizens are facing, the evaluations were done by Narva city experts and City Government. In other words, each of the following challenge topics was community-oriented and very relevant from the point of view of Narva’s citizens:
📦 ENTREPRENEURSHIP, focusing on cultivating entrepreneurship-mindedness and looking for a solution that is specific to the region. Narva is great for both startups and established enterprises for working on their goals or perfecting their business model.
👨👩👦👦 COMMUNITY, exploring solutions dedicated to well-being, and accessibility of the citizens – something that would bring a sense of the community.
🏡 URBAN SPACE, finding ways to improve the everyday experience of the citizens by solutions that modify the landscape of the city, be it aesthetic or structural.
🌱 GREEN DEAL, was more than relevant for Ida-Viru, as the region is currently going through major changes in the energy sector. Thus, the goal of the challenge was to find an environmentally friendly product or service that supports that journey towards sustainability.
Garage48 Narva had very diverse teams with exciting solutions.
By Saturday morning 17 teams were formed and around 70 people started working. The common goal was to either find a new solution on the topic of entrepreneurship, community, urban space or green deal.
Diversity of participants was a defining characteristic of Garage48 Narva Community Hackathon – 70 participants aged from 14 to 69 based in Narva and Ida-Virumaa but also in Tallinn, London, and Roskilde! This was reflected in the ideas that were ranging from communal gardens to khrushchyovka redevelopment projects and local museums.
“Most importantly I was glad to see so many smart and active people from the younger ages to the elderly who genuinely wanted to contribute to Narva’s development. It also became clear that a lot of people were concerned about the current way of communication between citizens and local governments, to which they proposed many different solutions. In addition to new exciting ideas, it was great to experience that the communication between the participants and mentors went well.”
Katri Raik
Narva City Mayor
Hackathon Mentor and a Jury member
48 hours later after thorough teamwork and help from the mentors, it was time for the jury to pick the winners in five different categories.
Garage48 Narva Community Hackathon Winners
Garage48 Narva awards ceremony took place on the 20th of May. The prizes were handed out by the President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, and the Mayor of Narva, Katri Raik.
📦 The OVERALL winner and the best team in the category of ENTREPRENEURSHIP - 2000€ to support their idea and pass to Startup incubator Narva.
Petsy
Team members: Maksim Belozjorov (Narva), Alexey Neprimerov (Narva), Artjom Poljak (Narva), Olga Sjukkalova (Narva).
After the hackathon Petsy was able to secure additional funding to further develop their Map.Petsy solution.
👨👩👦👦 The winner in the COMMUNITY category - 2000€ to support their idea.
Festival “Kuldne Nädal” team
The festival planned to take place in August 2021 will provide educational, entertaining, and health-oriented activities to older citizens.
Team members: Anne Lepik-Irie (Narva), Natalja Jatsuk (Tallinn), Aljona Kordontšuk (Narva), Tatjana Tkatsenko (Narva), Вета Лепик (Narva).
🏡 Winners of URBAN SPACE category - 2000€ to support their idea granted to each team.
Art Revolutionaries
a team consisting of six students from Narva Keeltelütseum with a passion for art and urban space. Their initiative will bring more color to the streets and buildings of Narva.
Team members: Anastassija Devadze (Sillamäe), Nikolai Tsahhutin (Narva), Danila Tsetsokin (Narva), Polina Bargan (Narva), Darina Dmitrijeva (Narva-Jõesuu), Jevgenia Razgonjajeva (Kohtla-Järve).
Pop Art Narva
a project that aims to incorporate light projection art into Narva’s visual landscape in order to bring life into grey walls. Their dream is to project on the walls of the city’s iconic water tower to create a new symbol for modern Narva.
Team members: Denis Bjorkland (Narva), Aleksandra Lestsuk (Narva), Ljubov Terukova (Narva), Anton Semenyura (Narva), Anastassia Volkova (Narva-Jõesuu), Ольга Смирнова (Narva).
🌱 Winner of the GREEN DEAL category - 1000€ to pursue their idea and straight pass to Prototron incubator.
Team Plyke
an innovative and recyclable bike bell made of lightweight aluminum.
Team members: Mihkel Annus (Tallinn), Martin Pedaja (Tallinn), Prajwal Neupane (Tallinn).
🚀 The team has used the prize money to develop their concept further and launch the first batch of recyclable bicycle bells.
“During the hackathon, we got the chance to validate the idea for the product and consulted with experts in different areas of business, all otherwise unreachable. We gained insights into running a business and appealing to the right clients. Looking back, participating in the Garage48 Narva hackathon was an amazing decision. While participating (and winning) did enable us to launch, the connections and knowledge we gained over these few days are worth more than anything else.”
Martin Pedaja
Team Plyke member
Read more about their solution: Students of EUAS won the green deal category at Garage48 hackathon
🚀 Winner of Special Prize – START-UP MINDSET - tickets to sTARTUp Day and Bolt e-scooter vouchers.
Team Молодые и зачарованные/Noored ja lummatud
Creating a new and innovative youth center in the Kreenholm district
Team members: Siimon Härm (Narva), Anastassija Mašošina (Narva), Артём Амберг (Narva), Antonio Стрио (Narva), Vladimir Moskaljov (Kiviõli).
Many projects beyond the winners have great potential. We are convinced that many good initiatives will keep coming from the participants who proved to be very passionate when it comes to their hometown.
Who made Garage48 Narva possible?
The event would not have been possible without the hard-working team of Garage48 visionaries, mentors, and partners who all came together for a great cause.
From left to right: Kadri Kõivik, Kadi Aguraijuja, Jana Budkovskaja, Siim Eesalu, Maarika Truu, Georg-Andres Veskioja and Katri Raik.
Mentors:
Katri Raik - Mayor of Narva.
Jana Budkovskaya - OBJEKT co-founder, Prototron CEO.
Helen Kokk - Nortal design lead, YourDesignWorks co-founder and mentor, Garage48 design mentor.
Jaanus Sakkis - Garage48 design mentor, Feks Design founder and product designer.
Anton Ossipovski - OBJEKT co-founder, CEO of Brand Effect.
Daniel Kotsjuba - Designer of Public Services at Estonian Public Sector Innovation Team.
Dan Mikkin - service design and design expert, Estonian Design Centre Council Member.
Sven Kirsimäe - Garage48 software engineering mentor, Salto network product development, R&D and data specialist.
Karin Künnapas - kood/Jõhvi co-director.
Andrea Lindgren - U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, Economic/Commercial Attaché.
Jüri Kaljundi - Garage48, Weekdone, Koosloodus co-founder.
Indrek Linnuste - Psychologist, founder and CEO of Amanita.
Juta Saarevet - Head of Disability Rights, Estonian Chancellor of Justice.
Alla Ojavere - Narva city social services, Health and social department senior specialist.
Tatjana Patsanovskaja - Hoolekandeteenused Narva director.
Ragmar Saksing - Tehnopol green technology direction manager.
Olga Kurdovskaja - Tehnopol Narva manager.
Madis Tilga - Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Estonia, advisor on bioeconomy and sustainable transition.
Marek Suchazewski - Cuploop co-founder and CEO.
Ivan Sergejev - Ex- Narva City architect, co-organizer of Station. Narva, just transition coordinator at the Estonian Ministry of Finance.
Polina Lyasheva - Lasnaidee founder and project manager.
Jaanus Mikk - Kreenholm district representative, Honorary Consul of Sweden in Ida-Virumaa.
Organizers: Jana Budkovskaja, Hannes Rumm, Maris Hellrand, Kadri Kõivik, Anželika Pratkunas, Georg Andres Veskioja, Marta Limmert, Anna Babushkina and Siim Eesalu.
Hosts: Maarika Truu and Jüri Kaljundi
Partners: Narva City, Startup Estonia, OBJEKT, The British Council, European Commission, KredEx, German Embassy in Estonia, Nordic Council of Ministers´ Office in Estonia, Embassy of the Netherlands in Estonia, European Regional Development Fund, The Estonian Chamber of Disabled People, Ministry of Finance of Estonia, Tehnopol, United States Embassy Tallinn, Integration Foundation, Swedish Embassy in Estonia and Eventornado.
Thank you to everyone who joined us on the journey and we cannot wait to be with you again!
