World Heritage meets Smart City in an Urban- Educational Hackathon in Rauma

Abstract

UNESCO World Heritage cities can become smart cities if they take into account their cultural heritage and integrate diverse actors, including universities in their innovation practices. This article addresses the hackathon as an innovation contest method in the urban and educational context. Specifically, it concentrates on hackathon design, particularly the focus of the event, as well as the outputs. Although the design plays an integral part in a hackathon, particularly in goal achievement, design has not yet been thoroughly studied in mainly descriptive hackathon research. To address the subject, this article presents a case study of a dual-focused, i.e., combined urban and educational hackathon in the City of Rauma, which has a World Heritage Old Town that aims to integrate its historical uniqueness with modern city services. As a result, the article portrays the process and outputs of a hackathon carried out with the collaboration of two higher education institutions (HEIs) and the Entrepreneur Association of Rauma. Presenting conclusions for both academics and the public sector, the article contributes to the literature on urban and educational hackathons in smart cities with a heritage context.