Open Collaborative Innovation Projects
Meet the Winning Team of "The Ekos Hackathon.
Natura announces the Winners of "The Ekos Hackathon Project.
After spending four days deep in nature, prototyping and exchanging experiences our "Ekos Hackathon: Mãos na Mata" came to an end. The project was promoted by The Natura Campus in Belem, from the 16th-20th of March. There were 32 participants, from various Brazilian States. They worked in collaboration to learn about and cooperate more closely with the local culture in developing ideas for the purpose of presenting a prototype that connects people to nature.
The presentation of the projects was the last challenge of the "Ekos Hackathon: Mãos na Mata." Early on Sunday, 20th, after having worked for two days prototyping ideas that help connect the Amazon rainforest and Nature to people's daily lives, eight groups presented their projects, which were a result of a great effort and sharing of knowledge. The presentations were very well evaluated, and three projects stood out above the rest, they were: Project Kya, VirVer and, the overall winner of the challenge was, The Magic Garden Project. The group members of the winning team were; José Neto a student from the state of Pará, Paulo Paciência and Marcela Porto students from the state of São Paulo, and Luiza Voll, an advertising professional from the state of Minas Gerais.
The winning project connects popular knowledge and new technology for the maintenance of a garden. "Some people like to have a space at home where they can grow plants, but with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, they forget to take care of them. The idea of, The Magic Garden Club, is to provide a package of selected seeds and sensors that will help in the proper cultivation of a small vegetable garden," explains José Neto student of Industrial Engineering in Belém who participated for the first time in a technology event such as the Hackathon.
The proposal as presented by the group is to provide sensors that measure, for example, soil moisture and indicate when the plant needs water, in addition to other nutrients, sending you alerts on an app. Seven other projects were presented at the conclusion of the marathon (last Sunday) for example an educational board game that teaches the different smells and textures of fruits from the Amazon and other biomes, encouraging participants to acquire knowledge of the essential elements of nature.
"The greatest prize for me was the exchange of experiences that help us learn. Our learning curve has been very fast, and knowing that we can make it viable and make our ideas useful is wonderful," says José Neto.
One of the members of the winning group, Luiza Voll, the advertising professional from Minas, was amazed at the ability of the team to build on each others' knowledge to create the winning project. "From the beginning, everyone in the group listened to each other. Each of us wanted to learn, grow, and create an idea that we were all passionate about," she said.
Research has shown that a significant number of people who live in cities are disconnected from nature. "We believe that Ekos has a major role in transforming this reality. The brand has been doing this for 15 years, taking a piece of the Amazon and bringing it into people's homes, and we want to broaden their horizons, therefore impacting the day to day of our consumers," said Claudia Pinheiro, director of personal care Natura and responsible for the Ekos brand.
More than 30 hours of prototyping took place during which the participants were in Belém and the Jauari Riverside Community in Moju (PA), which make the sustainable management of murumuru and other Amazonian substances used in the production of cosmetics for the Natura Ekos Line. The participants competed for positions with more than 150 other participants and they were chosen through the analysis of their applications and their ideas.
The "Ekos Hackathon: Mãos na Mata" is part of the Open Innovation Program at the Natura Campus, which was created in 2006. Its aim is to establish a network of science and technology institutions, researchers, students, entrepreneurs, and development agencies connected to collaborate in generating disruptive innovation.
"Hackathons" are crucial for fostering new ideas, solutions, and technologies, which help us, extrapolate the novelty in a cosmetic product so that we can offer innovative experiences to our consumers. The projects presented at the Hackathon are potentially feasible," says Luciana Hashiba, Natura's innovation manager.
The winners were awarded a 3D Ultimaker Printer 2go and one kit with ten plastic filaments for each member of the group. The winning team will also have the opportunity to visit Natura's headquarters in Cajamar and present their project to Innovation leaders and a network of invited partners.
Also, all participants gained a lot of knowledge in the four-day Ekos Hackathon immersion in nature and prototyping.
Tangible result
During the event, Natura presented the first project developed by the company based on one of the winning ideas of its first Hackathon, carried out in 2014. It consisted of a system that personalizes soaps of the brand. Portable and easy-to-use, the platform allows consumers to choose words and icons to write on the surface of the product. The selection is made using software which is installed in a device that is connected to small engraving equipment.
The machine has been adapted to allow for greater flexibility when personalizing products. "The consumer is given a choice of how to customize interactively. It can do more than just write a name or record a message when gifting someone," explains Luciana Hashiba, Innovation Manager at Natura.
Natura registered a patent for this innovation. The product is still in the test phase and should be made available to consumers in the second half of 2016.
Natura Innovation Day
The Natura Innovation Day Event was held on the 13th May 2016 at the Cajamar Headquarters.
In the event, the results of the Ekos Hackathon were presented; each of the eight groups that participated spoke about the prototypes they developed during the journey.
A roundtable debate on entrepreneurship and innovation was also held with representatives from Coca-Cola, Itaú Unibanco, Instituto InnovAction, Senai and Natura; the theme was, "Results of the use of Tools of Entrepreneurship and Rapid Prototyping in Companies that are not in the IT Segment."
Additionally, the Natura Startups Program was launched, its aim is to generate business partnerships and open innovation with innovative startups and entrepreneurs.
Watch our video and see some of those moments!
Learn More
Meet the eight groups that participated in our Hackathon and see their project prototypes.
Please check out our blog for an interview with our Magical Garden Club Group that placed in first.
Versão Português