Munich Re is a major sponsor of Climathon 2019 and will allow local participants to access its data as they work to design solutions to extreme heat events.

The free event is held simultaneously in major cities around the world. Each participating city proposes a local climate challenge and the “hackathon” is designed around it. Register here.

Sydney will join the initiative for the third consecutive year on October 25-26, with more than 100 participants expected to congregate at not-for-profit coworking space Fishburners on York Street.

Sydney attendees will look at how to leverage data and technology to develop resilience to heatwaves, which are estimated to cause more illnesses and deaths in Australia than any other natural hazard.

“Munich Re is supporting the Climathon in Sydney because we are committed to progressing efforts to understand, measure and manage climate risk,” Ralph Ronnenberg, MD at Munich Re said. “We look forward to seeing more cross-sector collaboration, and the building of a supportive environment where people with great ideas can unleash their potential to develop innovative and viable new solutions for climate risk mitigation and resilience.”

Participants will work in teams guided by experts, creating and developing tangible solutions. These teams will later deliver ideas pitches and winners will be awarded prizes, and opportunities to further develop their proposals through Munich Re.

Climathon is run by Climate-KIC Australia.

Last year more than 5000 participants in 113 cities from 46 countries took part.