It’s time to share the challenges with you for the VETATHON next week.

 

We introduce three challenges (below) of which each team can choose one. The teams will find out and elaborate a solution for these problems. The choices of the teams are independent of each other’s: you don’t have to know anything about the choices of the others. It’s only up to you to choose the one in which you’re interested in the most.

Read through the challenges below, consult with your teammates and/or convince others to join your team, even from other universities!

It’s enough to tell us your choice on 21st April, on the spot, but you’re allowed to work on your idea before the competition will be launched on 21st April.

 

1) Measures against food waste

Food waste is a global challenge. In developed countries household food waste represents more than 50% of the total food waste amount. Discarding leftover food is especially frequent due to 1) buying, 2) cooking, 3) serving too much food. IT-based solutions could help, for example online portion calculators that consider nutritional needs of the households. Outside the box innovations are also welcome!

 

2) Helping dogs “stuck” in municipal and civilian-run animal shelters to find their new owners with innovative means

In Hungary, the stray animal challenge is significant, according to estimates, there are hundreds of thousands of dogs living without human control, and the number of cats is even higher. The main challenge is that there are more animals than responsible owners. A lot of dogs are “stuck” in the shelters system for years, even 1-2 decades, due to breed, age, behaviour, colour, lack of potential responsible owners. Mixed dogs (mainly bull types), the elderly, big, black-haired dogs, and males are at a disadvantage. The behaviour of the animal does not always determine the willingness to adopt. On the part of the animal protectors, they often do not have the money, time, education or energy to find owners more effectively for them. How could dogs stuck in shelters for a long time be helped in an innovative way with little or zero financial resources?

 

3) Effective communication tools and methods for new generation Pet-owners

It is challenging in the big media noise to grab the attention of the new-generation pet-owners, and even if achieved to keep them engaged and motivated to do the preventative measures. As pets are life companions it is crucial that their owners are up to date with diseases and preventative treatments. What tools, platforms, messages would you recommend to stand-out from the crowd?

 

Don’t forget:

• See you on 21st April 3 p.m., on the campus of Óbuda University (1034 Budapest, Bécsi út 96/B).
• If you still don’t have a team, we’ll help you to form or join one on the spot.

 

For more information and registration click: https://www.vetathon.tech/en/