Fifty students worked in sixteen teams on February 25–26 at the first Re:Shape the City idea competition at University of Debrecen to find new solutions for the challenges of a modern city.
Ideas included an interactive urban information point network, a community childcare center, and a nighttime carpool system. The hackathon, organized jointly by the City of Debrecen and the University of Debrecen’s Innovation Ecosystem Center, focused on plans that enhance Debrecen’s cultural life and creative industries while strengthening urban community connections and local identity.
Teams of international students at the university developed their ideas over 24 hours at the Innovation Center, with support from local experts and mentors from Budapest, Rotterdam, and Košice, according to hirek.unideb.hu.
István Puskás, Debrecen’s Deputy Mayor for Culture, said they were curious to see how both Hungarian and international students studying in Debrecen perceive the city and what ideas they have for making it a more vibrant and community-oriented urban space in the future.
The teams addressed real city challenges, including public transportation, public spaces, and community building. “We will continue collaborating with the winning team, as their idea aligns with Debrecen’s current development plans,” Puskás added at the awards ceremony.
The winning team, weSParK—composed of Ahmed Alyousify, Yara Elkamshoushy, Dinh Thuy Hien, and Ali Tantawy—proposed an app that links community building with cultural engagement, encouraging movement by offering tours that help users explore Debrecen’s sights.
Students from the university’s engineering, IT, and health sciences programs will continue developing their idea with support from the City of Debrecen and have also earned the opportunity to participate in the Art & Tech Days event in Košice.
(unideb.hu)
