Bratislava has a generation of young people who want to act – not only talk about change

This year’s Climathon took place at the premises of the event’s main partner, the company Swiss Re.

Uwe Nagel from Swiss Re appreciated that:

“Each year the bar is raised, bringing innovative and feasible solutions for more resilient cities.”

Michal Weis from IBL Software Engineering, another event partner, added:

“Climathon is not just about competition, but about cooperation, combining technology, creativity and the courage of people who want to make Bratislava a better place to live.”

Thus, the event once again confirmed that the combination of young talents, experts and bold ideas can bring concrete solutions to urban challenges.

Mária Kostická, Head of the Innovation Development Department, added:

“I’m glad that a number of city mentors took part in the Climathon this year, too. They brought the participants closer to the functioning of the city from the inside and helped them arrive at solutions to the challenges we face every day.”

The winner was the secondary school team KAVO.WAR, which took home the main prize of €3,000 for creating a tool that makes it easier for key decision-makers to prepare urban studies and to take decisions on the development of the territory in the event of changes. The solution makes it easy to mark an area on a map, to display the relevant availability of civic amenities, zoning classification and developer fees, and to then simulate changes to the parameters necessary for an analysis. The Young Hackers Award went to the IBthonians team for a tool that calculates the needs of civic amenities in specific locations. Among the best teams again was last year’s winner, the Not a Candy Shop team, which this year took second place. Finally, a special award from city experts was given to the team TU-BA for improving the existing concept of the so-called Pešibus – an ecological and safe form of children walking to school together.

Almost half of the participants were secondary school students, and among the winners were teams from Bratislava’s Grösslingová and Jura Hronca grammar schools. The organisers consider this to be a very positive trend.

Eva Šimeková from Civitta emphasised when moderating the final:

“The greatest strength of the Climathon is the energy of people who are not afraid to think differently. This weekend showed that Bratislava has a generation of young people who want to act – not just talk about change.”

The participants were accompanied throughout the weekend by mentors from the city and from businesses, who provided valuable expertise and practical insights.

Ján Mazúr – the chief city strategist and owner of the winning challenge added:

“We are pleased with the interest and enthusiasm of the participants who took the time to help solve the city’s challenges. The winning solutions make sense to us in practice, and we will look for ways to apply them to our daily operations.”

Climathon Bratislava is part of a global initiative that took place in 140 cities in 56 countries around the world this year. In Europe, it is covered by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT Urban Mobility and EIT Climate Change).

Winners of Climathon Bratislava 2025

1. place – 3 000 €

KAVO.WAR – Creating urban studies should be easily accessible for key decision-makers, and this team is putting this into practice.

2. place – 2 000 €

Not a Candy Shop – A software tool for spatial planning that automates land use planning and fee calculation.

3. place – 1 000 €

ClimaFirst – A street game that changes the way children understand the importance of sustainable travel.

Young Hacker Prize – 2 000 €

IBthonians – A tool for calculating the needs of civic amenities for specific areas.