CoderDojo announces the Tech4ODS educational competition, aimed at children and young people from all over Spain

Knowledge of programming languages in today's world plays a fundamental role in the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Under this premise, the CoderDojo association has called the first edition Tech4ODS educational contest in Spain, organised by CoderDojo Spain, in collaboration with the University of Salamanca, the BISITE Research Group, the Air Institute and Salamanca Tech.

Through this initiative, CoderDojo seeks to promote technological education among young people and encourage the development of sustainable innovation solutions that have a lasting impact and contribute to the well-being of society.

This competition is open to schools in Spain, Dojo Ninjas active in Spain and children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 with knowledge of programming and robotics. Those interested can participate individually or in a team of up to 4 members.

The projects must respond to one of the challenges posed in this first Tech4ODS event:

Challenge 1: "Explore our planet": Use Scratch to create an interactive game that takes players on an educational journey around our planet, discovering places and other interesting facts.

Challenge 2: "Environmental Sensor": With Micro:bit, create a project that uses sensors to measure environmental aspects such as temperature change, soil humidity, air quality, etc. and present an educational solution to improve the environment.

Challenge 3: Build an application with Arduino that is able to detect, sort and/or collect rubbish.

Challenge 4: Use Machine Learning to develop a game that helps to reflect on how climate prediction can contribute to sustainable decision making, such as renewable energy planning, water management and agriculture.

When designing entries, participants must take into account the rules of the competition, where projects that include actions such as violence against people or animals, discrimination, foul language, scams, and suggestive, adult, graphic or shocking content will not be accepted.

Tech4ODS

This first Tech4ODS event is an initiative to promote technological education among children and teenagers, specifically in the area of programming and robotics, publicising the work carried out by CoderDojo in Spain and the rest of the world.

It also aims to promote the participation of girls through the creation of an inclusive space and the design of more attractive proposals for them in this area.

In this way, CoderDojo seeks to extend the reach of its free clubs within the Spanish territory, expanding knowledge to places that are difficult to access and have little technological coverage.

CoderDojo

CoderDojo is an Irish non-profit association, created in 2011, with the aim of promoting technological training in the youngest sector of the population. Through the opening of more than 2,300 free clubs, it teaches programming to children and young people between the ages of 7 and 17, who are called "ninjas" in their educational environment. With a presence in more than 100 countries, including Spain, CoderDojo has around 12,000 volunteer mentors known as "champions", who dedicate part of their free time to educating ninjas in the field of programming, with an emphasis on its different disciplines and languages. The association has an active delegation in Salamanca.