The 24 Hour Sustainable Hospitality Hackathon Vol. II: Highlight Report

Under the motto "It is time to collaborate, form bonds, share knowledge and solve problems", the second edition of the 24 Hour Sustainable Hospitality Hackathon took place at the end of December 2020. The idea behind this hackathon is the virtual working environment of students and experts who care about the same issues (i.e. driving more sustainability, more quickly in a post-COVID-19 world).

70 hospitality students from two universities (IUBH International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef-Bonn (DE) and Hotel Management School Maastricht (NL)) along with a dozen faculty members and industry experts were once again called upon to prepare and shape the future of sustainable hospitality following a first round in June 2020 (see The 24 Hour Sustainable Hospitality Hackathon Vol. I: Highlight Report).

Closing on a tough year for our industry where the interconnectivity between climate change, biodiversity collapse, and pandemics became clearer, students looked forward to actions that can promote resiliency and tackle the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) respectively.

The 17 SDGs formed the hackathon framework. 17 student groups brainstormed actionable ideas and activities. Those activities were classified in three categories: Easy Wins (CAT1); Adapt Your Plan (CAT2) and Game Changers (CAT3) and classified into Short- (within 12 months), Medium- (12-60 months), and Long-term (until 2030).

Download the Highlight Report to access the summary of all 51 key activities (in CAT1, CAT2 and CAT3) proposed to hotels across the 17 SDGs.

A special thank you to the experts:

• Leontine van Eerden, Sustainable Development Manager Northern Europe, Accor
• Dr. Frans Melissen, Professor of Sustainable Experience Design, Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands
• Michaela Reitterer, Owner, BoutiqueHotel Stadthalle Vienna, President of the Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV)
• Harco J. Leertouwer, Managing Director, Acre
• Dr. Kyriaki Glyptou, Senior Lecturer, Leeds Beckett University
• Franziska Altenrath, Co-Founder, TUTAKA Platform for Sustainability
• Nicolas Dubrocard, Hotel Environmental Auditor, Founder of Solutions Tourism
• Dr. Anna de Visser-Amundson, Research Fellow in Marketing at Hotelschool The Hague (HTH)
• Lucienne Mosquera, Sustainability Asset Management, Strategy Development and Process Optimization Consultant

Future Sustainable Hospitality Hackathons are planned with further cooperation across multiple universities. Interested in participating or contributing? Contact [email protected]

The 24hr Sustainable Hospitality Hackathon organizing and moderating team:

• Prof. Dr. Willy Legrand, IUBH International University of Applied Sciences (DE)
• Dr. Ankie Hoefnagels, Hotel Management School Maastricht (NL)
• Prof. Dr. Gabriel C.M. Laeis, IUBH International University of Applied Sciences (DE)
• Josje van Dongen, Hotel Management School Maastricht (NL)
• Malu Boerwinkel, Hotel Management School Maastricht
• Edwin Broers, Hotel Management School Maastricht

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