UNESCO Global Media & Information Literacy Week Youth Hackathon 2024

Applications are now open for the UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week Youth Hackathon 2024! This exciting event provides a global platform for young innovators to come together, share ideas, and develop solutions to address the challenges posed by the growing influence of digital content creators and artificial intelligence in the information landscape.

The winning teams will be invited to Amman, Jordan, on October 30 and 31 to present their projects during the closing ceremony of the Global MIL Week Feature Conference.

Theme: Youth Leading the Way – Media and Information Literacy and the New Digital Frontiers of Information

Tasks and Challenges

The participants will focus on one of the following topics to design innovative solution and scheme their proposals:

• Empowering youth to become active participants in shaping the digital spaces they inhabit, finding ways to promote public interest information rather than passive consumers of information.
• Exploring innovative solutions to address the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence.
• Exploring receptive and effective approaches to Media and Information Literacy Education and Capacity Building through Peer education and Feeding Education.
• Activating Youth Organizations to be agents of change through collaborating with digital content creators.

Solutions Categories

• Games
• Applications/Websites
• Radio programmes/Podcasts
• Educational toolkits
• Creative community-based interventions (non-technology focused)
• Other creative modalities for innovative interventions

Eligibility

• Teams will comprise 3-6 members (ensuring gender parity, teams can be national, regional, or international).
• Members must be aged between 18 and 30 years old and adhere to UNESCO’s values such as peace, respect for diversity, freedom of expression.
• No previous experience is required.

How to Apply

Each submission to include a document presenting the solution and a 3-minute video pitch (a creative format is strongly recommended). They must include:

• The team composition
• Problem statement, objectives, audience, and alignment with this year’s challenges
• Explanation of the prototype
• Feasibility
• Sustainability
• Creativity
• Deployment strategies / Business model and evidence of market validation.