☘️ Welcome to the ETH Dublin 2025 hackathon.

This guide helps you focus your project and understand how you’ll be judged. Build something impactful, keep it simple, and have fun.

🤝 Partner Integration Map

Here are each sponsor's strengths with specific roles in the hackathon -- you can technical documentation in the X section.

1. FCAT - Research frameworks, compliance tools for institutional adoption
2. Chorus One - Cross-chain infrastructure, validator support.
3. Olas Protocol - Information markets and knowledge curation systems.
4. Ledger - Security infrastructure, signing mechanisms for project milestones.
5. Ninedots - Physical-digital experiences, art integration.
6. Avara - Social identity and community formation via Lens.
7. Chainlink - Oracle services for external data verification.
8. OpenZeppelin - Security auditing and contract templates.
9. Filecoin - Permanent storage solutions for hackathon outputs.
10. Trrue - enabling compliant, impact-driven solutions.
11. Figure Markets - a decentralised custody marketplace for crypto.
12. Ethereum Support Program (ESP) - Core protocol infrastructure, grants for standout projects.

♟ Team Formation

🍒 Find your team members on Cherry by creating a profile and swiping, just like a dating app. Then:

• Apply filters to find the right match.
• Once matched, connect via the Chats page 

If you need tech support, reach out to @deca12x on Telegram!

⚖️ Balancing Teams

Aim for teams consisting of between 2 and 5 people.

We'd like teams to have as many skillsets represented as possible. We suggest thinking about the roles/archetypes below to balance your team.

• 🧠 King (Sales): Someone who can close — with judges, with partners, with users.
• 🧬 Queen (Marketing): Makes the story stick. Videos, vibes, virality.
• 🧰 Castle (Simplicity): Keeps scope manageable. Cuts fluff.
• 🎯 Bishop (Positioning): Understands the audience + fits the project into a meaningful narrative or use case.
• 🌈 Knight (Creativity): Weird ideas. Game mechanics. Humour. Myth.
• 🛠️ Pawns (Foundation): Steady builders. Make the project work.

**Please note, not every role needs to be filled by one person, and not every team needs every role. This is just a suggestion and will not impact judging.

🧠 Project Design System

Each project should aim to include:

• A narrative hook.
• A technical scaffold (based on one or more sponsor APIs/toolkits).
• A harm reduction lens: who it serves, naming a specific social harm.

❤️‍🩹 Harm Reduction BUIDLs

When people hear ‘harm reduction’, they often think of addiction services. This track is meant to inspire more holistic and humanist interpretations.

Here are 6 project proposals sourced from the ETH Dublin community and 1 set of meta hack challenges. Please feel free to adopt, build, and adjust as you see fit.

N.B. Working on your own ideas has no impact on judging. These are suggestions that you are to use or adapt.

🧠 Make Ireland Innovative Again

Theme: Education Reform, Digital Sovereignty

Core Idea: Reimagine education using Ethereum-based lessons or sandboxes for students to deploy/test smart contracts safely.

🌍 A Big Web3 Welcome: Fostering Community Integration

Theme: Immigration, Mutual Aid, Social Infrastructure

Core Idea: Build a skill-sharing marketplace + social graph + DAO vote system for immigrant-led projects.

🕵️‍♀️ ÉireEncrypt

Theme: Privacy Tech, Legal Compliance

Core Idea: Empower citizens and small businesses to use privacy-preserving blockchain tools to meet GDPR.

🚗 SafeRoads Ireland

Theme: Public Safety, Youth Engagement

Core Idea: Smart contracts and decentralised coordination to reward safe driving + community hazard reporting.

🆘 Decentralised Community Safety and Crisis Response

Theme: Mutual Aid, Crisis Tech

Core Idea: A local-first, privacy-respecting platform for emergencies, blending ZK and hyperlocal DAOs.

🏠 Decentralised Rent Control and Fair Pricing Using Ethereum

Theme: Housing Justice, Transparency

Core Idea: Make rents fairer with smart contracts and real-time, tamper-proof price tracking.

🧩 Meta Challenge Ideas

Hackathon Auction House: Let teams bid out mini-bounties using a simple credit/token system. Supports partial contributions and cross-team collaboration.

Prediction Market Challenge Map: Use JokeRace or a minimal prediction market tool to vote on challenge ideas, guide mentorship flow, or reward emerging needs.

Proof of Craic Map: Build a dynamic, hackathon-wide dashboard showing: Most collaborative teams; Most poetic code; Best use of “care” as a design principle.

🧑‍⚖️ Judging Criteria

Your project will be evaluated on the weighted criteria below. Build with these in mind to maximise your opportunity for rewards.

• Technical Execution (30%)
  • Does the project work as demoed?
  • Is it secure?
  • Is there clean and functional code?
• Innovation (20%)
  • Does it creatively address the challenge?
  • Is the solution novel or clever?
• Impact (20%)
  • Who benefits from the solution?
  • Does it promote inclusivity and fairness?
  • Does it address a clear social need (e.g., loneliness, accessibility)?
• Narrative & Presentation (20%)
  • Is the story compelling and culturally resonant?
  • Is the pitch/demo clear and engaging?
  • Does it start with a strong “why”?
• Sponsor Tech Integration (10%):
  • Is there meaningful use of sponsor APIs/toolkits?

🤫 Tips for Success

• Keep It Simple: Focus on 1-2 features for a working demo. Use 1-3 sponsor APIs max.
• Leverage Mentors: Keep an eye out for the mentor station onsite.
• Tell a Story: Weave a narrative hook (mythical, cultural, or social) to make your project memorable.