Yesterday and today, students at seven schools in Drenthe are thinking about the energy transition. A so-called Hackathon is being held, in which the students work together at school for thirty hours. Seven students from De Nieuwe Veste In Coevorden are also taking part.
A total of 35 teams from fifteen Technasium, VMBO and MBO schools in the Northern Netherlands are taking part in the ‘We have the future’ competition of the National Program Groningen. In groups, a solution is devised for an issue related to the energy transition. They have thirty intensive hours to do this.
“We work non-stop. We started this morning and we will continue until tomorrow afternoon,” says teacher Joost Engel of De Nieuwe Veste at the start of the Hackathon. “The theme of the assignment is the switch from fossil fuels to new forms of energy. The intention is that these students create a platform where energy is traded at a local level. How do you bring the generator and the user together?”
That is the question that the seven fourth-year HAVO and VWO students are allowed to think about for thirty hours. Chantal, Harm, Jorn, Mick, Myrthe, Ramiro and Stijn have volunteered to join their school’s Hackathon team. “Today we have a major energy problem and hopefully this will help us a bit,” explains Harm Goorts from Dalerveen. “You also learn a lot from it.”
During the thirty hours, the school arranges the meal and teachers provide workshops and morning gymnastics for the team. You have to work hard. But cardboard tents are also set up in the technology room, for those who still want to sleep in. “Continuing constantly might not be so smart, because tomorrow we also have to work all the time,” says Harm.
All teams must submit a video explaining their idea at the end of the match. These can be worked out in the following weeks and then submitted to the provincial authorities on 11 November. The best idea per province will then receive a subsidy to actually realize it.