OurPlanet.Rocks Official Hackathon Rules & Guidelines

Welcome to OurPlanet.Rocks! Please read these rules carefully before registering or submitting your project. By participating, you agree to abide by these guidelines to ensure a fair, safe, and impactful competition.

Dates & Timeline

• Hackathon Start: August 7th

• Submission Deadline: August 9th (Check the Devpost countdown clock for your local time zone)

• Winners Announced: Friday, August 14th

Eligibility

• Academic Status: Open to all current high school students and undergraduate college/university students worldwide.

• Team Size: You may participate individually or in teams of up to 4 people. Teams can be a mix of high school and college students.

• Skill Level: All experience levels are welcome. You do not need to know how to code to participate; we have dedicated tracks for non-technical projects.

Project & Submission Requirements

To be eligible for judging and prizes, your team must submit the following before the deadline:

1. Project Description: A clear summary of the problem you are solving and how your solution addresses it.

2. Track Selection: You must specify whether you are entering the Technical Track (software/apps) or the Organizational Track (campaigns, business models, or non-profit blueprints).

3. Project Assets:

• For Technical Track: A link to a working prototype, GitHub repository, or clickable design mockup.

• For Organizational Track: A pitch deck, Business Model Canvas, or structured organizational blueprint.

1. Video Demonstration: A 2-to-3 minute video (hosted on YouTube or Vimeo) demonstrating your project, explaining how it works, and introducing your team.

New vs. Existing Work

• All projects must be created during the three days of the hackathon (August 7th–9th).

• You may use open-source libraries, templates, and publicly available APIs, but the core concept and implementation must be built during the event. Pre-existing completed projects are not eligible.

Judging Criteria

Projects will be evaluated by our panel of climate scientists, tech leaders, and entrepreneurs based on the following equally weighted criteria:

• Impact & Sustainability: How effectively does the project address a pressing global or environmental problem?

• Innovation & Creativity: How original is the idea or approach?

• Execution & Feasibility: Is the technical prototype functional, or is the organizational blueprint realistic and viable?

• Presentation & Pitch: How clear, compelling, and well-structured is the team's video pitch and documentation?

Code of Conduct & Fairness

• Be Respectful: Harassment, bullying, or discriminatory language of any kind will result in immediate disqualification.

• Originality & Intellectual Property: Plagiarism or presenting someone else's work as your own will result in automatic disqualification. You retain full ownership of the intellectual property you create during the hackathon.

• Single Submission: Teams may only submit one project to the hackathon.

Disqualification & Rule Interpretation

• The organizing team reserves the right to disqualify any submission that does not meet the eligibility or submission requirements.

• Rules will be applied consistently to all participants. If you have any questions or need clarification regarding the rules during the event, please post them directly in the Devpost Discussion forum so all participants can benefit from the answer.

Disclaimer: These rules are subject to change only under exceptional circumstances. Any official updates will be communicated directly to all registered participants via Devpost.