This week NIC Peshawar, with support from The Asia Foundation, hosted the second round of the Net Zero Tech Camp Challenge. The event, curated by Code for Pakistan featured mentoring and project development workshops facilitated by NIC Peshawar. Spanning over 3-days, it was designed to empower tech students from five of KP’s universities to pursue projects that have the potential to achieve zero environmental footprint. A total of 40 undergraduate students from University of Swabi, UET Peshawar, Institute of Management Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University and Pak-Austria Fachhochschule were selected for both rounds of the challenge. 20 students, in groups of 5, participated in the second round that ended yesterday. The event comprised of multiple speaker sessions delivered by professionals within the Sustainability and Climate Change field. After presenting their initial pitches for sustainable solutions like upcycling and “green bricks” (among others), the participants received a “speed mentoring” session from the expert speakers. Towards the end of the event, participating students got the opportunity to demo their projects and are expected to receive a grant of 2000 USD from The Asia Foundation and US Consulate Peshawar to pursue their projects. “We hope to address all broad and deep challenges impacting our nation and communities. Of course, we will not achieve absolute success immediately, but our roadmap forward is based upon a clear vision, thoughtful strategy and flawless execution. Events like the Net Zero Tech Camp are an opportunity for us to empower our communities to use their skills and make a difference. We are so happy to be collaborating with NIC Peshawar and contributing to climate action initiatives.” – Mahwish Khan Arbab, Director Community and Partnerships at Code for Pakistan. Code for Pakistan is a nonprofit that works on bridging the digital divide between Pakistani citizens and the government. By partnering with various governmental and private sector organizations, Code for Pakistan develops user-centered, practical digital solutions that improve the lives of community members. Learn more about Code for Pakistan’s work at: https://codeforpakistan.org/ or follow @CodeforPakistan on Twitter for more information.