Youngsters Have Created Eco-Friendly Solutions for the "Coding Tomorrow" Idea Marathon

As part of the "Coding Tomorrow" project, which was implemented in collaboration with Vodafone Turkey Foundation and Habitat Association and reached over 180,000 children across Turkey, two simultaneous idea marathons were held for middle and high school students. In the events held online under the common name of "Idea Marathon - Smart Technologies for the Environment", the participating teams were asked to use smart technologies and develop solutions to climate and environmental problems. In the idea marathon, the TED-R Green Future team won first place with the "Fismatik" project in the high school group, while the Stenocora team won first place with the "Artificial Dew Tree" project in the middle school group.

Implemented by Vodafone Turkey Foundation andHabitat Association, the "Coding Tomorrow" project continues to prepare children and youth for the digital future. As part of the project, which reached over 180,000 children across Turkey, two simultaneous idea marathons for middle and high school students were held. In the events held online under the common name of "Idea Marathon - Smart Technologies for the Environment", the participating teams were asked to use smart technologies and develop solutions to climate and environmental problems. Based on their fields of expertise, Vodafone employees also provided mentorship to the participants.

In the idea marathon, where 103 students competed in 45 teams, the TED-R Green Future team won first place with the "Fismatik" project in the high school group, while the Stenocora team won first place with the "Artificial Dew Tree" project in the middle school group. In both categories, the winning teams were awarded15,000 TRY, 10,000 TRY, and 5,000 TRY, respectively.

While evaluating the ideathon, Mr. Hasan Süel, the Chair of Vodafone Turkey Foundation, stated:

"As Vodafone Turkey Foundation and Habitat Association, we eagerly continue our 'Coding Tomorrow' project, which we launched six years ago to raise generations ready for the digital future. When we were considering how to use technology for humanity's good and respond to a social need of society, we decided to do a project first to increase people's technology literacy and their tendency to use technology, starting with children. Thus, in collaboration with the Habitat Association, we started teaching our children aged 7-14 to code, the digital world language, in August 2016. With our 'Coding Tomorrow' project, we aim to contribute to raising a generation that produces, not consumes. Until today, we have given coding training to over 180,000 children in 81 provinces. We organized the first idea marathon of the new period. With this marathon, we aimed to discover stories that can offer solutions to concrete social problems. Many showed interest in our marathon. Our students prepared excellently for the marathon. Many participating students focused on forest fires and came up with ideas accordingly. Vodafone employees also provided mentorship to the participant students. We congratulate each of our participants, especially the top three teams."

Mr. Sezai Hazır, the Board Chair of Habitat Association , also stated:

"Five years ago, with the collaboration of the Vodafone Turkey Foundation, we launched our 'Coding Tomorrow' project to contribute to raising generations that are not only the users of technology but also the producers of it. Today, we continue our project and still feel the excitement of that very first day. The previous years have shown us that learning how to code is as important as literacy. With our project, we develop processes that guide national and international digital transformation, thereby contributing to the prepare our children for the digital world of the future. During our 'Idea Marathon - Smart Technologies for the Environment ' organized as part of the project, children developed ideas by producing solutions to future climate and environmental problems with smart technologies. We live in a time when environmental problems are increasingly becoming visible. I believe that in such a period, producing eco-sensitive ideas with an idea marathon involving youngsters will significantly contribute to raising individuals' awareness of environmental and climate crises and creating solutions to these issues."

Online receipt idea won first place

In the high school category, 65 students competed in 29 teams. While seven teams competed during the finals of this group, the TED-R Yeşil Gelecek (Green Future) team took first, the Su Savunucuları (Water Defenders) team took second, and the Space Pirates Cameo team took third place. The TED-R Yeşil Gelecek (Green Future) team, consisting of İrem Aymelek, Ege Aleyna Gülle, and Mina Aden Başar, won first place with the "Fişmatik" project they developed to reduce the use of paper receipts. The team suggested developing a mobile application that will create online receipts instead of paper receipts that require a lot of oil and water in their production, cause many trees to be cut down, harm human health due to BPA in their ink, and cannot be recycled.

Artificial tree idea won first place

On the other hand, 38 students competed in16 teams in the middle school category. Whilefive teams competed during the finals of this group, theStenocora team won first, theÇevre Dostları (Eco-Friends) team won second, and the Grup Kozalak (Group Cone) team won third place. The Stenocora team, including İlkim Derin Ören, Rüzgar Ali Çelik, and Ceylin Yurtsever, took first place with the "Artificial Dew Tree" project they developed to prevent deforestation, a significant problem created by global warming. With the "Artificial Dew Tree" project shaped of a cone consisting of 45-degree-spherical drains, the humidity created by the temperature difference between day and night in the air will cling to these channels, condense in these drains, and accumulate as water. Then, the water will be sprayed as artificial dew in the dark. Moreover, the data to be collected with the sensors will allow analyzing the information of the forest and intervening early in case of any fire.

The project has reached over 180,000 children

Within the "Coding Tomorrow" project, children between 7-14 across Turkey receive theoretical and practical training by volunteer trainers on various subjects, including the introduction to programming, algorithm logic, application development, storytelling, and game development. Our training helps our children understand programming, work to bring out their creativity, create their imaginary worlds, and produce their games. As part of the "Coding Tomorrow", which has reachedover 180,000 children in 81 provinces to date, 6,6 million TRY of social value was obtained last year, and each investment of 1 TRY for the project yielded a social return of 4,4 TRY. With the project, it is aimed to provide coding training to 70,000 children in 81 provinces in the future and improve children's digital competencies with various digital education topics besides Scratch training.