Innovative projects by young Omanis tackle environmental challenges during two-day event
The Environment Authority has announced the winners of the Environmental Excellence Hackathon, held over two days in North Batinah Governorate. The event saw enthusiastic participation from young innovators and technology enthusiasts from across the Sultanate.

The hackathon was held under the patronage of His Excellency Dr Saif bin Abdullah al Haddabi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation for Scientific Research and Innovation, and attended by His Excellency Dr Abdullah bin Ali al Amri, Chairman of the Environment Authority.

Taking first place was the project titled ‘Pure Activated Carbon’, followed by ‘Stark’ in second place, and ‘Bio Power’ in third.

Nizar bin Salem al Fanah al Arimi, Director of the Environment Department in North al Batinah, stated that the hackathon was designed to develop creative and technical solutions to environmental challenges. “It aimed to encourage and support youth and developers in the environmental field, promote innovation, and find smart applications and platforms to address pressing environmental issues,” he said.

He noted that the hackathon attracted a distinguished group of programmers, leading companies, job seekers and postgraduate students, who worked intensively over 48 hours to present innovative solutions to specific environmental problems. Participants exchanged ideas, designed prototypes, and built applications intended to improve environmental outcomes.

The hackathon addressed a broad range of environmental topics, including coastal erosion, climate change, hurricanes, rising temperatures, invasive species, desertification, and overgrazing.

During the closing ceremony, the Masar platform was launched to track performance indicators of employees in the North al Batinah Environment Department. The event also featured several working papers on environmental issues and a dialogue session focusing on the impact of climate change.