Main users: Students

Inspired by the Hackathon dynamic, Maratón Ideósfera promotes collaboration between university students and the Quadruple Helix, addressing specific local challenges aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Inspired by the Hackathon dynamic, Maratón Ideósfera promotes collaboration between university students to provide proposals to solve challenges identified by municipal and state governments in order to improve the quality of life for residents in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. After an open call to universities in Guanajuato, multidisciplinary teams are assigned to enrich collaborative work. Work sessions are complemented with workshops, mentoring and conferences related to social innovation, creativity, value proposition, prototyping and pitching. Solutions are all evaluated and the winning ideas go forward to be developed.

By involving the local and state government who identify the challenges, as well as public and private universities (students, teachers, mentorship, officers), businesses (who provide products and services that help the participants with their projects), society (source of information, feedback and link), Maratón Ideósfera proves that innovation and collaboration in all sectors are key factors in generating valuable solutions that improve quality of life for all. Students perform a key role, working along with other students that they didn't previously know, helping them focus on the task and work side by side during an arduous uninterrupted period of time. In the end, the winning ideas are linked to incubators and other state technology parks to help them continue develop their ideas in order to materialize them.

This collaborative innovation event was held in 2018 and 2019. The pandemic paused the 2020 and 2021 in-person editions, and it's currently being redesigned. In 2018, 72 students from 5 Guanajuato public and private universities participated in 19 teams working on challenges related to the SDGs Responsible Consumption and Production, Quality Education, Health and Well-being, Zero Hunger, and Sustainable Cities and Communities., of which 5 were selected for development. In 2019, 96 students formed 23 teams to address challenges related to the SDGs Improving the Quality of Life of Elderly Adults, Promoting Decent and Well-Paid Employment, Increasing Cultural Identity and Practices, Improving Child Health, Dignifying the Transit of Immigrants and Dignifying Housing. 6 ideas were selected as winners.

All of the generated proposals are based on real needs, and therefore the ultimate beneficiaries of the solution are local citizens.

The De La Salle Innovation Park,is responsible for organizing the event, in collaboration with strategic allies of the government, academy, business sector and society.