# Global challenges and human security as a framework for innovative collaboration and co-creation

> A hackathon is an event where teams and individuals often create different solutions to given challenges or assignments in a short time.

## The Role of Hackathons in Co-Creation
A hackathon is an event where teams and individuals often create different solutions to given challenges or assignments in a short time. Challenges can be introduced in advance or focus on specific, limited themes that require connecting different competencies and acquiring necessary resources. These events seek a wide range of expertise from various fields of education and environments, connecting actors from universities and companies with unique strengths.

Effective hackathons involve partners such as companies, principals, researchers, and mentors who act as challenge owners, customers, and sources of expertise, guidance, and financial support. Co-creation processes like these are customer-centric methods for solving relevant problems, providing a broad context for universal global challenges such as climate change and evolving security environments.

## Human Security in a Changing World
Recent global events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, have highlighted the fragility of our operating environment. These crises have underscored the importance of health security, self-sufficiency, cyber-attack preparedness, and responses to energy, raw material, and food crises.

The concept of "human security," introduced by the UN in 1994, expands the traditional notion of state security to include:
* Environmental security
* Financial security
* Personal and physical security
* Community security
* Health
* Universal human rights

Furthermore, the decline of biodiversity—as detailed in the 2021 Dasgupta Report—poses severe risks to both human security and the global economy.

## Sustainability and Innovation
Societal upheavals drive the need for cultural, social, and technological experiments. "Sustainability change" refers to the adaptation of our ways of life—including local livelihoods, housing, energy infrastructure, transport, and the food chain—in response to environmental changes. 

By utilizing hackathons to address horizontal problems, organizations can:
* Strengthen regional, national, and international knowledge sharing.
* Connect research and innovation with ambitious business goals.
* Utilize new technologies (e.g., 5G) for crisis management, infrastructure protection, and defense.
* Align development activities with the UN Agenda 2030 and EU corporate responsibility regulations.

## Building Future Ecosystems
Perceiving interdependencies and ensuring human security requires new ways of working. Collaboration between clusters and ecosystems—such as [superecosystem.fi](https://superecosystem.fi/)—and events like hackathons provide the atmosphere necessary for experiential, educational, and productive outcomes. These platforms allow participants to network, find employment, and commercialize new solutions, while simultaneously creating multidisciplinary learning pathways that challenge traditional problem-solving methods.

## Authors
* **Matti Laitinen**, Innovation advisor, Business Center North-Savo
  * Phone: +358 44 785 6333
  * Email: matti.laitinen@savonia.fi
  * [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattislaitinen/)
* **Jyri Wuorisalo**, Project Manager, Savonia University of Applied Sciences
  * Phone: +358 44 785 6914
  * Email: jyri.wuorisalo@savonia.fi

## Sources
* [Final Report – The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review (2021)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review)
* [Human Development Report (1994)](https://www.undp.org/publications/human-development-report-1994)
* Corporate social responsibility & Responsible business conduct (2022)
* Grönroos, C., & Voima, P. (2013). Critical service logic: making sense of value creation and co-creation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 41(2), 133-150.
* [Business Center North Savo](https://www.bcpohjois-savo.fi/en/home/)
* [Super Ecosystem](https://superecosystem.fi/)
* XAMK Satelite Hack