Belo Horizonte (Brazil), a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2019, will organize a week-long Hackathon themed “Solutions for the creative economy” from 17 to 24 May. The Hackathon will aim to provide support and concrete solutions to the local creative and cultural sectors, particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the Hackathon, participants will be presented with specific challenges and scenarios related to the recovery of the creative economy. Based on these scenarios, participants will be invited to develop innovative and practical initiatives and projects to address these challenges. By bringing a diverse set of stakeholders, the competition will intend to stimulate creativity, originality, and innovation amongst youth to revitalize and boost the cultural and creative sectors.

In addition to formulating concrete and collaborative solutions to the current situation, the event will also offer opportunity to creatives and cultural practitioners from different backgrounds to connect, network and explore new avenues of cooperation.

To further foster the exchange and sharing of good practices and experiences, a series of side events will be organized during the week, such as thematic webinars and roundtables with representatives from several UNESCO Creative Cities including Fortaleza and Florianopolis from Brazil, and Mexico City from Mexico.