What is the problem you are trying to solve? Who does it affect?

Access to green careers and climate leadership remains deeply unequal, especially for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities. The barriers are not just systemic, they’re emotional and cultural:

We in our team are from Black, Asian backgrounds, and looked at our own stor,y why we never thought of taking a career in sustainability

• Lack of representation means many can’t picture themselves in climate roles.

• Limited exposure means students don’t even know green careers exist beyond activism.

• Cultural and structural barriers like elitism, confusing pathways, and inaccessible networks keep people out.

• Information access gaps mean most never see the internships, mentors, or funding opportunities that could change their lives.

As a result, many capable individuals never enter the sustainability space, even when they care deeply about the planet.

What is your idea? How does it fix the problem?

Our solution is Octobuzz, a gamified digital platform that re-imagines access to green careers through a personalized, interactive, and empowering experience, designed especially for people who’ve never felt included in sustainability conversations.

Key Features:

• Gamified Career Pathways
  Users can choose their interests, hobbies, or goals, and receive a customized learning journey with levels, quests, and visual progress, turning complex career exploration into an exciting game.

• Career Discovery & Mapping
  Octobuzz helps users explore a wide range of green career options — from product design to green finance — and discover what paths might suit them best, based on their interests and strengths.

• Jobs & Volunteering Opportunities
  We connect users to real opportunities — internships, paid roles, and volunteer programs in sustainability and climate innovation.

• Mentorship from Industry Experts
  Get matched with mentors who understand your background and can help you navigate the climate space with confidence.

• Hackathons, Accelerators & Grants
  In-app access to events, startup support, and funding — helping users turn ideas into action and build climate leadership skills.

• Octopoints System
  Complete learning tasks and challenges to earn Octopoints — trade them for mentorship calls, pitch opportunities, grant access, or job-shadowing experiences.

• Impact Badges & Role Models
  Celebrate progress with impact badges while showcasing relatable success stories of diverse sustainability leaders to inspire and guide users.

Implementation

How do all the pieces fit together? Does your frontend make requests to your backend? Where does your database fit in?

Tech Stack

Front-End: React.js, Typescript, Javascript, Flutter, Dart, HTML, SCSS, CSS

Back-End: Python, Fast-API, GCP, Docker

Challenges

The biggest challenge was managing time and complexity.

Building a gamified, mission-driven platform with multiple components — including mentorship, career maps, reward systems, quickly expanded the project scope.

To overcome this, We focused on:

• Prioritizing through scope reduction: We used a “must-have vs. nice-to-have” framework to avoid feature creep.

• Applying lean product thinking: We distilled the product into an MVP centered on solving the core user pain points.

• Adopting agile workflows: Using Kanban boards and regular check-ins, we ensured consistent progress and unblocked tasks quickly.

The result? A streamlined prototype that clearly guided users from onboarding to earning Octopoints and connecting with a mentor.The biggest challenge was time and complexity management.

When you’re building a gamified, mission-driven platform with so many moving parts, mentorship, career maps, reward systems, and user types, the scope can balloon fast.

To overcome this, we focused on:

• Scope reduction through prioritization: We applied a “must-have vs. nice-to-have” lens.

• Lean product thinking: We broke the product into MVP features tied directly to the user’s pain points.

• Agile task division: We used Kanban-style boards and regular check-ins to unblock work and keep moving fast.

The result? A focused prototype that delivered a clear user journey.

Accomplishments

What did you learn? What did you accomplish?

As a team, we accomplished something far more valuable than just a working prototype; we validated a real-world problem and began designing a meaningful, scalable solution.

We all learned three key things:

1. User empathy is everything.
   Before writing a single line of code, we spoke about the lived experiences of underrepresented communities in sustainability. That deepened our understanding of the problem and shaped our feature set, like mentorship matchmaking and beginner-friendly career mapping.

2. Rapid iteration and scope discipline are crucial.
   In a high-pressure setting like a hackathon, it’s easy to get caught in feature creep. We learned to prioritize core impact over completeness, focusing on features that delivered immediate user value.

3. Cross-functional collaboration drives innovation.
   We saw firsthand how blending technical talent with lived experience, design thinking, and mission alignment creates not just a product, but a product with purpose.

Next Steps

What are the next steps for your project? How can you improve it?

1. User Testing & Feedback

We’ll conduct usability tests with students and career switchers from underrepresented backgrounds to refine the user experience, language, and reward system.

2. Strategic Partnerships

We aim to collaborate with green organizations, educational institutions, and diversity-focused accelerators to bring in mentors, job opportunities, and funding support.

3. AI-Driven Personalization

We'll integrate AI to recommend tailored career paths, events, and mentors based on user interests, goals, and background.

4. Enhanced Gamification

We’ll refine Octopoints, add streaks, unlockables, and impact badges to boost engagement without overwhelming users.

5. Technical Improvements

• Optimize backend for multiple user roles and progress tracking.

• Implement secure login and a scalable, privacy-focused infrastructure.

6. Community & Social Features

• Discussion Forums for peer support and questions.

• Success Stories to inspire and share real journeys.

• Growth Logs for tracking progress.

• Peer Chat for connection, collaboration, and encouragement.