Hackathon & Ideathon: Shaping the future of work in the restaurant sector

The Municipality of Matosinhos, in the district of Porto, Portugal, is a public body responsible for running the RRP-funded Training and Qualification Programme in the Gastronomy Sector.

The programme is geared toward employability and youth entrepreneurship in the restaurant industry, reflecting the municipality’s broader commitment to workforce development and local economic growth.

The main challenge was mobilizing young people, schools, mentors and restaurant-industry stakeholders around real employability and entrepreneurship problems in Matosinhos.

Civitta handled the planning and delivery of the activity, including a sector diagnosis, mobilizing mentors, Design Thinking training, and running five Hackathon & Ideathon sessions with young people from several schools.

In the final phase, teams prepared and presented their pitches to a specialist jury – a moment of validation and recognition for the proposals they had developed.

The initiative drew 43 participants at the opening session, included 23 stakeholder interviews, involved 20 mentors and speakers, and formed six youth teams for the working sessions.

At the final session, teams presented their pitches and prizes were awarded to the best proposals. The winning team and other standout participants received a Technological Specialization Course, along with additional prizes.