The Climate Hackathon 2026: Water, organized by the São Paulo City Hall's Executive Secretariat for Climate Change (SECLIMA), has extended registration through September 21, 2026. The call is open to higher-education students from across Brazil and requires a small team, a faculty adviser, and a public-policy project addressing water-related challenges in the city of São Paulo.
To avoid losing eligibility over an operational detail, use two official references: the SECLIMA Hackathon page, which brings together the deadline extension, registration form and practical guidance, and the Notice 02/2026 published in the Official Gazette, which details eligibility, project format, stages and evaluation criteria. The notice itself states that it fully replaces Notice 01/2026.
Who can form a team
The core rule is straightforward, but the details matter. Each group must have 2 to 4 students who are currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at a public or private higher-education institution located in a Brazilian city. Participation is not restricted to students from the city or state of São Paulo: the call is nationwide.
- Team: 2 to 4 students.
- Status: currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program.
- Institution: public or private.
- Location: institutions in Brazilian cities; the team does not need to be from São Paulo.
- Advising: one higher-education faculty member is mandatory.
- Different institutions: students and adviser do not need to belong to the same institution.
Two additional eligibility rules deserve attention. The project must be original and innovative and cannot be a project that previously took part in hackathons organized by SECLIMA. In addition, City Hall does not provide transportation or lodging assistance. That matters because the final stage is in person.
What the faculty adviser is responsible for
The faculty member is not just a supporting name. Notice 02/2026 requires a signed Faculty Adviser Acceptance Form, attached as an annex to the rules. By signing it, the professor acknowledges the rules and formally accepts the role of adviser to the group.
The form also records a practical consequence for prizes: if the team receives goods or physical items as an award, they may be delivered in the adviser's name, while decisions on use or possession remain with the group under the adviser's supervision. The adviser should therefore be chosen early, including when the professor belongs to a different institution.
Before submitting, confirm that the adviser teaches in higher education, has accepted the role, has completed and signed the form, and that the team has a legible copy ready to send with the documentation.
What must be submitted by September 21
The extension keeps September 21, 2026 as the deadline to complete registration and submit the project. SECLIMA's official page instructs groups to register through the form and send the project and documents to hackathonclimatico@prefeitura.sp.gov.br.
The notice breaks registration into separate stages. In practice, treat all of them as mandatory:
- Registration form: complete it within the current registration period.
- Student documentation: photo ID and proof of enrollment for every team member.
- Faculty Adviser Acceptance Form: the Annex I document signed by the adviser.
- Written project: the file submitted according to the notice and official page instructions.
The rules explicitly state that projects missing any registration stage will not be considered. Do not treat the form and the email submission as alternatives: they are parts of the same process.
How the written project must be prepared
The project must address water resources and water security in the city of São Paulo and must have a public-policy character. The notice lists possible areas such as conservation of rivers, springs and watersheds, access to water in adequate quantity and quality, urban drainage, reduction of flooding, and Nature-based Solutions.
There are also formal requirements that can disqualify an otherwise strong proposal:
- maximum of 5 pages of content;
- mandatory bibliographic references, which do not count toward the page limit;
- Times New Roman, size 12;
- introduction, justification, objectives, methodology, expected results, estimated budget and timeline;
- no element that identifies the educational institution in the written project.
The last point is especially important: the notice says proposals containing elements that identify the educational institution will be disregarded. Review cover pages, headers, footers, laboratory names, logos, automatic signatures and any institutional references before producing the final PDF.
How projects will be evaluated
The preliminary review is carried out by SECLIMA's technical team. The notice cites fit with the theme, alignment with climate plans and a climate-justice approach. Scoring considers innovation, relevance to climate-change mitigation or adaptation, clarity and coherence, technical feasibility, local impact potential, fit with the theme and replicability.
The 10 highest-scoring projects move to the final stage. To improve fit, the team should show not only a good idea but also how it could work within São Paulo's administrative and territorial reality, who would benefit, how impact could be measured, and why the proposal adds something new or improves an existing solution.
Timeline that matters to applicants
| Stage | Date or period | What the team needs to know |
|---|---|---|
| Registration form | through 09/21/2026 | The form is part of registration and does not replace submission of documents and the project. |
| Project and documentation submission | through 09/21/2026 | Send the project, team members' IDs, proof of enrollment and the Faculty Adviser Acceptance Form according to the official guidance. |
| Announcement of 10 preselected projects | 10/08/2026 | The result is scheduled to be announced through SECLIMA's social media channels. |
| Final presentation and evaluation | 10/22/2026, 1:30 p.m.–6:00 p.m. | In-person stage; the venue will be announced later. Each group has up to 10 minutes to present. |
| Awards | 10/22/2026 | Symbolic awards take place at the event; follow-up and any additional prizes are handled afterward. |
For the final, at least one team member must attend in person. Because transportation and lodging costs are the team's responsibility, participants from other cities should factor this in before completing registration.
Checklist before you submit
- Are all 2 to 4 members currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program?
- Is the faculty adviser a higher-education professor, and has the adviser signed the Acceptance Form?
- Is the project original and not reused from a previous SECLIMA hackathon?
- Does the proposal address a public water or water-security problem in São Paulo?
- Is the content no longer than 5 pages, with mandatory references included separately?
- Does it include introduction, justification, objectives, methodology, expected results, budget and timeline?
- Have logos and any other identifying signs of the educational institution been removed?
- Do you have a photo ID and proof of enrollment for every student?
- Has the form been completed and the files sent through the official channel by September 21?
- If selected, can at least one team member attend the in-person final on October 22?
It is also worth reading the final provisions before participating. The notice provides for a free assignment to the Municipality of copyright and economic rights over submitted projects for uses related to execution and promotion of the event, as well as authorization to use images, voice and sound recorded during Hackathon activities. Certificates are listed as 30 hours.
Because deadlines, the final venue and operational notices can be updated, make a final check on the official SECLIMA page and the Secretariat's indicated social channels before submitting. For participation rules, use Notice 02/2026 as the reference.
