Ryerson Announces Winners of Climate Hack-to-Action

The Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship at Ryerson University and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change have announced the winners of Climate Hack-to-Action, which challenged participants to develop and pitch creative policy solutions.

The event, which took place April 7 to 9, brought together 80 individuals, including Ryerson and high school students, policy experts, community leaders, and behavioural economists, to examine what challenges people face in making low carbon choices and empower them to reduce their carbon footprint.

The winning teams will share $9,000 in prize money to support the successful development of innovations that will accelerate the shift to a low-carbon Ontario and will also participate in a networking lunch with Paul Evans, Deputy Minister, Environment and Climate Change.

The winners of Climate Hack-to-Action are:

  • First Place: Team Ease , aims to tackle the issue of transit and congestion, making multi-modal commuting appealing for Ontarians with the use of an app that demonstrates greenhouse gas and fuel savings based on an individual’s method of transport. 
  • Second Place: Best Practice looks to connect young farmers to landowners with backyards to rent for local food production.
  • Third Place: Team RG Green created CarbonConquest, an app that utilizes a gaming element to teach and engage young people about how their choices impact their carbon footprint.   

The winners were selected by a panel of distinguished judges, including Karen Clarke-Whistler, Chief Environmental Officer, TD Bank; Jim Baxter, Director of the Environment and Energy Division, City of Toronto; and Karen Clark, Director of Air Policy and Climate Change Branch, Government of Ontario.