The 3rd Sustainable Finance Hack delivers with innovative solutions

24 Hours of collective innovation. 9 Projects. 65 participants. Let’s hack!

The third edition of the Sustainable Finance Hack took place on 26-27 November. Over 60 academically and geographically diverse participants came together in-person and online to develop solutions for a series of pre-selected challenges.

The creative, problem-solving event was kicked off by GSEM Professor and President of Open Geneva Thomas Maillart, who introduced the concept of open innovation and the importance of working together to solve problems; with social interactions, co-creation, and pooling ideas central to advancing innovation. Prof. Maillart highlighted the role hackathons play in career development; by providing a platform for participants to build a portfolio of experience by working alongside industry professionals. This year’s event was made up of 30% students and 70% industry professionals.

The Sustainable Finance Hack tasked participants with developing practical solutions to non-trivial sustainable finance problems. Over a 24-hour period, participants with various expertise and cultural backgrounds worked together in a hands-on approach. Hackathons offers participants an opportunity to improve skill sets through an environment of experimentation, and they are instrumental to ground solid use cases, which may later evolve into robust products or startups.

Following the event, Hackathon participants voted for their favorite pitches and the three best proposals were presented by Prof. Maillart at the Closing Ceremony on 30 November.

The favorite projects were:
- Challenge 4: “Nowcasting CO2 emission intensity for decarbonized equity portfolios”.
- Challenge 2: “Women in wealth management”.
- Challenge 9: “Blockchain-based Nature Stewardship”.

The Closing Ceremony also featured a council of industry leaders discussing open innovation. Included in this panel was GSEM Vice Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, Salvatore Di Falco, who spoke about the School’s investment in sustainability, analytics, and governance, and how students can use this Hackathon to interact with the real economic ecosystem.

The 2021 Sustainable Finance Hack was supported by the Geneva School of Economics and Management, Open Geneva, and the UNIGE Career Services Center, and formed part of the Building Bridges Week, an open and collaborative effort that brings together diverse actors from government, academia, industry, and non-profit organizations to advance sustainable finance.

> View the challenges.
> View the Closing Ceremony.
> View the Aftermovie.