Hackathon image

EmpowerCymru 2025 —  all you need to know about our mini-hackathon

NZIW


As part of EmpowerCymru 2025, Net Zero Industry Wales (NZIW) and Sweetmans and Partners will collaborate to deliver a mini-hackathon.

The aim? To drive Wales’ journey to net zero through proactive collaboration and conversation.

We spoke to Rosie Sweetman, Director of Sweetmans and Partners, to discuss all things ‘hackathon’ and what delegates can expect to see at our upcoming conference.

Hi Rosie. So, let’s start at the beginning. What is a Hackathon?

Hackathons have their origins in the tech sector and are typically used to develop new technology solutions or ideas.

The premise is this: working with people from different backgrounds, with complimentary skills in a time-pressured environment on a shared challenge, creates fresh ideas and a rich environment for learning.

As a certified B Corp, we at Sweetmans and Partners are committed to playing our part as coaches and facilitators — to tackle the social and environmental challenges and opportunities Wales is facing as a nation. As such, we’ve adapted the original tech hackathon for addressing complex challenges — sometimes called ‘wicked problems’ — that rarely have one right answer and require the collaboration, perspective and input of multiple stakeholders to generate possible ideas to ‘test’.

How will the Hackathon work as part of EmpowerCymru?

During the conference, we’ll facilitate a 90-minute mini-hackathon — as opposed to a full-length hackathon which can take place over a period of days. During the session, delegates will shape a response to a pre-set challenge question. Thinking will be fuelled by the insights of guest speakers, delegates’ own experiences, the perspectives of others and a concentrated ideation structure.

What is the challenge question?

The question we’ll be tackling on March 10th 2025 is:

How might we further mobilise Wales to deliver a low-carbon industrial future at pace and scale, and in a way that delivers both economic and social value?

The output of our mini-hackathon will support Net Zero Industry Wales’ mission to make Wales the country of choice for the production of sustainable goods and services.

What is the benefit of taking part?

Delegates will benefit from the opportunity to:

  1. Contribute to and shape new ideas and fresh thinking around the challenge question
  2. Apply and develop key leadership skills and behaviours for a net zero world
  3. Build networks for future collaboration

By working in teams of 4-5 people from different organisations/sectors, you will be supported to develop your own ideas — in keeping with the latest thinking on navigating complex challenges and ‘leading for net zero’.

The format of the design will be informed by:

  • Perspective taking — we’ll be actively making use of different perspectives to explore new ways to think about, and tackle, the challenge
  • Complexity thinking — situations with unpredictable outcomes, and uncertain cause and effect, can require us to take a different approach such as noticing patterns and influence, adapting and experimenting
  • Collaboration — we’ll be seeking to encourage some key behaviours that support effective collaboration

Each team will generate a minimum of one idea and as conference delegates you will have the chance to ‘vote’ for the ideas you would like to see taken forward and tested by NZIW and wider Welsh industry following the conference.

The mini-hackathon is an opportunity to think, collaborate and generate ideas and experiments, together, that help us move towards this vision for Wales. The opportunity is here — now it’s up to all of us to seize it.

Place are limited so please register for the mini-hackathon today to secure your space. We look forward to seeing you there!