COVID-19 has impacted the world in drastic ways, and the natural environment is no exception. Sustainability challenges both old and are rising to the surface of global awareness, and a spotlight has been placed on anthropogenic environmental impact in a different way than ever before. It has became clear that everything from pandemic healthcare protocols, to medical devices, to corporate waste, to food systems, to e-commerce, to education need to be re-examined.

For this virtual mini-hackathon–the first one ever held by a Hopkins-affiliated hackathon–we asked students across JHU campuses to join us in re-examining the systems, products, and procedures that have governed our society and to reimagine them for the world we hope to see. We offered six exciting themes for participants to hack around including PPE & Medical Waste, Urban Spaces, Food Systems, Pollution, Consumer Waste, and Colleges & COVID.