Opening spaces for collaborative innovation: understanding the value of hackathons for the Blue Bioeconomy.

Abstract

Prepint for our article titled "Opening spaces for collaborative innovation: understanding the value of hackathons for the Blue Bioeconomy" from the Blue Bio Techpreneurs project (https://bluebiotechpreneurs.eu/). Abstract: The blue bioeconomy is an emerging field of sustainability transition, but many innovations remain constrained by fragmented actor networks, early-stage uncertainty, skills gaps and weak pathways from ideas to implementation. Hackathons are increasingly used to stimulate blue bioeconomy innovation, yet their contribution to transition processes remains under-theorised. This article examines blue bioeconomy hackathons as temporary transition spaces. Combining a scoping inventory of ocean and blue economy hackathons with an embedded case study of three Blue Bio Techpreneurs (BBT) hackathons across the Nordic, Baltic and Atlantic Sea basins, we analysed how short, challenge-based events support technical and soft skills training, learning and open innovation. The paper shows that hackathons for the Blue Bioeconomy most commonly produce early-stage concepts, prototypes, partnerships and awareness-building outputs, but public reporting of actors, methods and follow-up outcomes remains uneven. Our BBT cases indicate that hackathons are most valuable when they connect challenge owners, students, mentors, researchers and intermediaries in a structured but neutral setting. Their transition contribution lies in problem reframing, network formation, entrepreneurial learning, expectation building and the preparation of solutions. However, hackathons are not sufficient to overcome scale-up, regulatory or financing barriers on their own. We argue that their value depends on careful challenge curation, active challenge-owner engagement, interdisciplinary team formation, clear intellectual property arrangements and dedicated follow-up mechanisms. The paper contributes to sustainability transitions research by conceptualising hackathons as temporary intermediation spaces for emerging blue bioeconomy niches.