The event was aimed at young people aged 16-29. Eight teams faced the challenge of developing initial ideas for social projects that could improve the quality of life in Łódź.
Design Thinking
The starting point for designing solutions was a series of interviews conducted with residents of Łódź:
- Paulina – a social activist returning to work after maternity leave.
- Olena – a photography enthusiast who came to Poland after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Stanisław – a senior citizen and history enthusiast who served as a pastor for 25 years.
- Tomek – a teenager dreaming of becoming a personal trainer, currently living in a dormitory and returning to his hometown on weekends.
The main principle of the Design Thinking approach, which guided the Ideathon, was to adopt the perspective of these Personas and view problems through their eyes.
Step by Step
The teams faced a tough task. Before they could address the challenges of the people they were designing solutions for, they first had to get to know each other.
Meeting for the first time, they had only a few hours to form a team and develop ideas for social projects.
The work followed the steps of the Design Thinking process: empathy – needs diagnosis – idea generation – prototyping – testing.
Winning Projects
During the Ideathon, dozens of initial project ideas were developed. Eight of them were presented during the final session.
Each team had three minutes to share the results of their work.
A jury evaluated the presentations, consisting of:
- Monika Dolik – Representative of the Mayor of Łódź for Cooperation with NGOs
- Agnieszka Murawska – Chair of the Scientific Council of the Social Innovation Center at the University of Łódź
- Magdalena Senator – Erasmus+ InnHUB Łódź, National Agency of the Erasmus+ Program
- Klaudia Krawczyk – Team Leader of the Local Project Management Masters team at LEVEL UP
The jury’s award went to a team that proposed a card game as part of a lesson plan introducing the topic of multiculturalism.
A second award, granted by the audience—including Ideathon participants—went to a project called Culinary Thursdays, which aimed to integrate young people through shared cooking sessions.
Social Innovation Center at the University of Łódź
Members of the Social Innovation Center took part in the Ideathon. Agnieszka Murawska served as a jury member, while Jędrzej Szynkowski, together with Monika Bocian, Joanna Stompel, and Kamil Oleszkiewicz, developed the event concept and supported the teams as a trainer during the final.