Programme structure
Three consecutive stages: from pre-event sessions to a new organisation that keeps working after the grant ends.
September – October 2026
Pre-event sessions
Four sessions before the event, open to everyone who wants to join. Optional for visitors, compulsory for project participants.
Session 1
NEB values
Session 2
Briefing from the EIT Community NEB
Session 3
Local challenge discovery
Session 4
Design thinking and team formation
24–25 October 2026
Ignite NEB hackathon
Two days at two venues. The working track and the public celebration reinforce each other — we call this format an “unhackathon”.
Venue
Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University
Prototyping and the engineering track.
- Prototyping sprint
- Coach mentoring
- Work in the university labs and at MechLab3D
- Business and social model development
- Pitch preparation
Venue
Zhovten Cinema
NEB Celebration and the announcement of the winners.
- “Routes of Access” exhibition
- Storytelling sessions with veterans, youth, elderly people and people with reduced mobility
- Inclusive urban mapping
- Gallery of prototypes made from circular materials
- Public feedback wall
- Final pitches and jury selection of two winning teams
December 2026 – August 2027
Incubation programme
Eight months of work with the two winning teams.
20+
hours of mentoring per team
3+
prototyping sessions at MechLab3D and the Zhytomyr Polytechnic labs
20+
tests with real users
1
new legal entity as the minimum result of the programme
Next step
It all starts with an application
The pre-event sessions are the entry point to the programme. Then comes the hackathon, then the incubation.
Apply