Urban Futures: Climate Resilience Hackathon

Large crows of hackathon participants stand together to pose for a group photo inside the Museum's Hall of the Universe. Daniel Kim/© AMNH
Urban Futures: Co-Creating Climate Resilience in NYC was held January 15–17, 2026, at the American Museum of Natural History.

This citywide hackathon brought together scientists, technologists, designers, policymakers, and community members to generate creative, data-driven solutions for building a more resilient New York City.

Hackathon Objective

Teams used inventive problem-solving to explore how New York City's extensive open data resources and climate models from research partners can illuminate how climate risks–including rising temperatures, stronger storms, and increased flooding–vary across neighborhoods and what strategies might best mitigate their impacts. 

Participants included:

  • Community members from all five boroughs, who will share lived experiences, local knowledge, resilience priorities
  • Hackers, including students, researchers, civic technologists, artists, urban planners, and educators, who will bring their technical, creative, and analytical skills to develop practical solutions informed by science and community input
  • City government personnel, to provide context on policy goals and implementation and bridge grassroots ideas with citywide resilience planning
  • Mentors, including climate and data scientists, programmers, landscape architects, and educators from the American Museum of Natural History, LEAP (Learning the Earth through Artificial Intelligence and Physics) NSF Science and Technology Center at Columbia University, Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners, and NVIDIA to guide teams in data interpretation, visualization, communication, and design

On the final day, teams presented projects to a panel of community experts, scientists, and policymakers, and promising ideas may inform future planning efforts or collaborations.

Five small groups of hackathon participants hold up oversized paper signs that indicate the awards they received for various hackathon categories.
Daniel Kim/© AMNH

Application Information

Urban Futures: Co-Creating Climate Resilience welcomed applicants from a broad range of backgrounds: New York City neighborhood leaders, data visualization and climate scientists, urban planners, City government officials, and creative technologists.

2027 hackathon dates, and the link to apply will be posted later this year.

  • Dates: To be announced.
  • Location: American Museum of Natural History, New York City
  • Eligibility: This event is open to participants 18 years or older. 
  • Application deadline: To be announced.
  • Registration: Please register individually. Teams will be formed by hackathon organizers.

Urban Futures: Co-Creating Climate Resilience in NYC was produced in collaboration with LEAP (Learning the Earth through Artificial Intelligence and Physics) NSF Science and Technology Center at Columbia University and Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners.