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Climathon Works Locally to Create Global Impact: Here’s How you Can Participate

Local action can have global impact, and the upcoming Climathon Honolulu gives you a chance to do just that. The Climathon day of action will be held October 26 and 27, in partnership with Zero Waste Oahu. The event is an all-day climate design challenge hackathon (learn more about what, exactly, a hackathon is here) to help solve local issues. Find all current event details and full schedule here.

What is Climathon?

Climathon, a project of Climate-KIC and under the auspice of the European Union, has the official mission of empowering a global wave  of  change-makers and innovators to help humanity achieve zero emissions in 20 to 30 years. Last year the Global Climathon included 113 cities with over 5000 participants and 400+ solutions – and this year will be bigger than ever. This year, the Climathon team connected with Impact Hub Global, joining together these two organizations to build ongoing climate solutions.

In Honolulu, a diverse group of stakeholders convened to design the first Climathon for Honolulu. The group determined that reducing the human impact of tourism in Honolulu would be a great target area to start. Thus the question to tackle is: How do we reduce the human impact of tourism in Honolulu?

hackathon

Using the hackathon format, groups will get together to create solutions to this question. These solutions can be high-tech, low-tech, policy driven, or other. We’re looking forward to hearing solutions from all types of participants: entrepreneurs, activists, families, government, non-profit, small business owners, and more! There will be a preliminary competition on Saturday, and on Sunday final decision will be made and prizes awarded.

Some of the cool solutions that other cities have created in previous Climathon events include:

  • In Edinburgh, Scotland, they focused on building a circular economy around food, and improving food security. Their solutions included IntelliAD, an autonomous, ultra-small-scale organic waste digester for onsite waste recycling and a aquaponics solution to make more food in smaller spaces.
  • The city of Leeds, in UK, proposed “Plants for Pollution,” which included vertical garden installations and moss framed billboards that would absorb pollution, beautify the city, enhance its reputation and improve wellbeing, making use of limited space to add green infrastructure to places in the city where space is a premium.
  • Shanghai LinGang wants to create zero carbon “smart mobility” solutions for the new city, which has less population and less public transit opportunity than other parts of the city.
  • In Washington DC, the solution was a furniture moving and repurposing business to reduce overall waste in the city.

These workshops include Project Drawdown, Sierra Club of Hawaii, and the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency. There will also be a film night showing Infected Earth, a documentary from a local documentarian, Dr. Darragh O’Carroll. All of these events are free and open to the public. Find all current event details and full schedule here. If you want to register a pitch at the Hackathon, sign up here.

What’s a Hackathon – and How Can we Create Climate Solutions with our Climathon?

Last week we kicked off our Honolulu Climathon with a Climate Action Talk Story event featuring local experts, activists, and business leaders to share their vision for a cleaner, greener future. If you missed the event, see the slideshow here to get all the great tips from our presenters about climate action you can take NOW.

At the event, we realized that people don’t know what hackathons are, so we’re going to share a bit more about why this event is so cool, and how you can get involved!

Perhaps some of you are familiar with the term hackathon? A hackathon is a sprint-like event (of various duration) that allows people to work together for a common goal. The hackathon concept comes from the world of coding and programming, where groups of programmers would gather to build a new app or software program. This one’s a bit different, as we’re focused on climate solutions, which can be high tech, low tech, or public policy hacks.

hackathon

hackathon

The Climathon (climate + hackathon) goal is to hack solutions to our designated question: how we can reduce the human impact of tourism in Honolulu. At the Honolulu Climathon, we’re gathering together in an all-day event featuring films, workshops, and the Hackathon to encourage out-of-the-box thinking about these important subjects. Together the community can collectively find the solutions we need to mitigate the effects of tourism on the island.

To do this we need to work together on all levels: consumers, students, government, policy-makers, non-profits, educators, businesses, and families need to be engaged in this work. Please join us on Saturday, October 26 for an all-day event [final event details forthcoming].

We’re hosting one more Climathon event this week Thursday. Join us for the Sustainability Marketplace, with many of the same businesses and experts that were featured in the previous event. Come meet the experts and companies making a difference here in Hawaii, and shop locally owned and operated (and zero-waste) products. See some of the vendors here in our Instagram post.

 

Climathon Kicks Off! Join Local Events for Global Action

Join us this week for the✨first ever✨

Honolulu Climathon !

There are ~250,000 tourists in Hawaii every single day. Tourism is a vital part of our economy. Yet we know it’s possible to make the impacts of tourism more sustainable on our island.

To make these big changes, we need to work together on all levels: consumers, students, government and policy-makers, non-profits, educators, businesses, and families need to be engaged in this work!

We are kicking off a month of climate events at Impact Hub HNL as part of the Climate-KIC Global CLIMATHON. This is a global community: 300 cities, 1M participants, and YOU have the opportunity to show up locally to contribute to this collective action.

We have two kick-off events in September: see below for more details.

Climate Action Starts with YOU! Join us September 19 from 5:30PM – 8PM for a talk story session with local experts, activists, and business owners. They will share actionable steps you can take today to reduce your impact throughout your life, covering topics like food, lifestyle, body care, civic action, and more.

Learn more and register for this event here

Sustainability Marketplace + Pau Hana. On Thursday, September 26, join us for our Sustainability Marketplace a farmer’s market style marketplace with a potluck pau hana. BYO utensils, plates, and shopping bags to stock up with local food and goods.

Learn more and register for this event here.

And there’s MORE! Here’s some other ideas to get involved locally:

ImpactART Returns with a Hawaii Artists Group Show: ‘How Do We Do’

This August, Impact Hub HNL presents our third ImpactART event, featuring three Hawaii artists: Bai Xin Chen, Ryan Higa, and Sheanae Tam. This is the first group show that we’ve hosted, and will be slightly different than the previous shows featuring Lauren Hana Chai and Boz Schurr, as these artists all work in different mediums, bringing diverse textures and context to the show. The ImpactART evening will feature a brief program, a scavenger hunt, and a Q&A session with all three artists.

ImpactART will be held August 15, from 6pm-8pm. Everyone is welcome; RSVP for this free event here.

About the title, How Do We Do, Higa explains that, “the title ‘How Do We Do’ works on two levels. First, it refers to the physical and technical processes that we use to make the work. It’s the ‘How do you do that?’ Second, it suggests an emotional or intellectual state of being in reference to the work that we’re creating. That’s the ‘How are you doing?’ I feel that most art is a fluid combination of both Hows.”

“It refers to the physical aspect of making as well as the emotional and psychological,” Chen says of the title.

Chen has come to Oahu via China and Hong Kong. He works with wood shavings, making collages and other installations with the wood. His work has been exhibited at Impact Hub HNL, Hawaii State Art Museum, Honolulu Museum of Art School, and the 2019 Venice Biennale’s Imago Mundi Collection .

Higa, originally from Oahu, works with colored pencil and graphite on paper, and does larger painted installations – his work is featured on the walls of Impact Hub HNL.

Tam, also from Oahu, comes from a long line of fishermen, and her work reflects a deep connection with the ocean and its creatures. “I have been and still am constantly a part of diving, fishing, preparing, eating, and disposing all sorts of sea life. As an artist I have been recording these moments in my work, coupled with research about the ahupua’a, habitat, and nature of the creatures.” Tam works primarily with acrylic on canvas, and her work featuring the original fishponds of Kakaako adorns our walls in the nook.

Register for the event here. 

More about ImpactART: Our ImpactART program supports Hawaii’s artists by creating an equal exchange of artwork for studio and exhibition space. Co-created by Impact Hub Honolulu and Honolulu Biennial Foundation in 2017 to address the need for art studios and the proper valuation of artists’ work, ImpactART will trade space, materials and a gallery show within the Impact Hub for art.

Event Spotlight: Hawaii Educators W-rite

Today we’re sharing an Event spotlight featuring Kristi Oda of Hawaii Educators W-rite, a group that meets here at Impact Hub HNL.

Andrea Bertoli (AB): Tell me more about Hawaii Educators W-rite.

Kristi Oda (KO): The W-rite group is an inspired community of educators who support each other: we do this by carving out time each month to gather in a creative space to reflect and write. This atmosphere and intention cultivate a rich atmosphere for sharing and growing among our peers and friends. These events do not have an agenda and are totally self-directed, which gives everyone the opportunity to informally connect and bring a vibrant energy to our role as educators in the community.

AB: What pulled you towards this type of activism/work?

KO: We want to help nourish the writers from Hawaii and give educators a platform from which they can share their unique voices.

The media has continually reported a narrative of broke teachers in broken schools. The public deserves to hear a wide variety of stories from educators doing the work across our state. There are many things Hawaii educators have found to work that simply need to be shared, spread, and adapted. This tells a richer story of education here in the state.

AB: What are some of the founding values behind your group (and the work)?

KO: So often we get caught up in daily life, so this is about the importance of taking time for self-care, specifically to reflect and design a new path in our work with the overall goal of fostering leadership, collaboration, wellness, and growing a healthy local network of supportive relationships. As educators, in addition to school responsibilities, we work on achieving certifications, degrees, creating curriculum, communicating with families, sharing our work in presentations, and receiving grants for future projects. Some educators need essential time and space in order to be empowered to find and share their stories & voices.

Networking educators from various school levels, communities, and roles, such as parent liaisons, administrators, classroom and non-classroom educators is important to work to break down barriers and dissolve tensions that threaten collaboration.

AB: How can people get involved if they are interested?

KO: If you are an educator in Hawaii, find us online or check out motivated HI educators on Twitter #808educate. If you aren’t an educator and like our work and want to partner, reach out anyway to connect and see how you can participate or support. And if you have friends that work as educators, please invite them to collaborate with us.

AB: Any upcoming events we can share with our audience?

KO: We have three more events happening in July: two online, one at Kāne’ohe Elementary, and an additional monthly meetup at Impact Hub on July 31.

  • July 17 #808educate Twitter chat on Social Media for Educators
  • July 20 808Unconference where educators create topics on the spot and participate in sessions about shared interests (bit.ly/808uncon)
  • July 31 W-rite session at Impact Hub HNL + guest author -retired principal Jan Iwase (6:30pm-8:00pm)

Thanks, Kristi, for taking the time to share your event with us! 

 

Event Spotlight: Startup Grind with Jules Sukhabut

Today we’re sharing a Member spotlight featuring Jules Sukhabut of TeraVault. He’s going to be speaking at the Startup Grind event on Thursday, July 18. This is a great opportunity to learn from a serial entrepreneur, and to network with other startups and founders.

You can register for the event here: Members get a $5 discount with code: impacthubmember

Andrea Bertoli (AB): What is your background and history – tell us the founding story of TeraVault.

Jules Sukhabut (JS): TeraVault is a boutique software development firm. In September 2018, we partnered with Hi Tech Hui, a cyber security company in Honolulu to help some of their clients with software projects, and we’ve been growing ever since. Currently we have team members in both Honolulu and LA, and we are growing our offshore team in Philippines who service clients on the mainland and Canada.

Before starting this company, I started and sold three others: WebWorks, Bagna Networks, and OrderDynamics. I have had successful exits from all of these companies.

AB: What advice can you share for entrepreneurs as they grow and scale their company?

JS: Sell through channel partners- In my experience, I found it easier to sell through channel partners. In the early days of a startup I sold through other companies that I knew and that had similar target clients. This strategy has allowed our company to quickly grow our SaaS or IaaS sales and client base, and allowed us to test and develop our sales processes, onboarding, and ongoing support.

This is not an original idea, it’s basically why some software companies sell through retailers, independent software vendors (ISV), value added resellers (VAR), and/or systems integrators (SI).

Another piece of advice is to attend trade shows and conferences: I’m always looking for trade shows and conferences in the market location that I’m targeting for sales. These are usually in the same industry as our company’s product / services is in (e.g. e-commerce), or in an industry that my target client is in (e.g. clothing retailers and brands). Once I identify these events, I start creating a workback schedule to exhibit and demo our product/services there.

AB: What are some of the key lessons that you’ve learned along the way?

JS: Don’t take on investors early in your company- In all the companies that I’ve co-founded, we didn’t take any outside investment from investors. We did take on debt/loans to help our business grow, but this didn’t dilute our shares and ownership. This helped us maintain control and direction of our company while allowing the founders realize the capital gains of our shares in the company when we sold. I do, however, agree with taking on investors (private or corporate) at later stages in the business, but only if the investment capital is used to significantly grow company sales or solidify a strategic partnership or product development.

AB: What can people expect from the coming Startup Grind event?

JS: At the coming Startup Grind event, I will share my personal experiences of starting a technology company, growing it nationally and internationally, and exiting the business through an acquisition and management earn out.

Thanks, Jules, for sharing your thoughts! 

You can register for the event here You can register for the event here; click to learn more about Startup Grind Honolulu Chapter.