| Communication team
Designing the Future of the Limfjord: Inside the trans4num INSPIRE Hackathon 2026
Aarhus, Denmark & Online | October 22–23, 2026
How do we transform an intensive agricultural landscape to drastically reduce nitrogen pollution while ensuring farmers remain economically viable?
This was the central question driving the trans4num INSPIRE Hackathon 2026. Over two intensive days, interdisciplinary teams of students, researchers, agronomists, and data specialists gathered in a hybrid format - hosted physically at Aarhus University and connected globally online - to tackle the urgent ecological challenges facing Denmark’s Limfjord catchment.
Organized under the Horizon Europe trans4num project, the event challenged participants to design a "Future Landscape Concept" that balances the EU's Zero Pollution Action Plan and Denmark's Green Tripartite Agreement with the everyday realities of modern farming.
Setting the Stage: Expert Briefings and Thematic Foundations
The hackathon kicked off on October 22 with a plenary session designed to ground all participants in the complex realities of the Limfjord catchment. Rather than writing lines of code, participants were asked to engage in deep systemic thinking, bridging agronomy, environmental science, spatial data, and rural economics.
The opening sessions provided crucial context and introduced the digital tools available to the teams. (Click the links below to view the presentation slides):
- Welcome and Introduction – Tommy Dalgaard (Aarhus University)
- Inspiration from Nature-Based Solutions: Background & Vision – Morten Graversgaard (AU) & Morten Winther Vestenaa (ICOEL)
- The Limfjord Challenge– Morten Winther Vestenaa (ICOEL) & Morten Graversgaard (AU)
- The Innovation Canvas & Future Landscape Concept – Markéta Kollerová (Plan4all)
- Introduction to the Digital Toolbox: JackDaw & trans4num DST – Morten Birk (Cordulus) & Filip Leitner (Plan4all)
The Hacking Phase: Collaboration Meets Spatial Evidence
Following the briefings, the newly formed teams dove into the hacking phase. Their mission was concrete: produce an interconnected Future Landscape Concept and summarize their systemic vision using the 14-slide trans4num Innovation Canvas.
Teams worked closely with thematic mentors across four key areas: Agronomy & Nitrogen, Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), Policy & Regulation, and Digital Tools. To back their concepts with spatial evidence, participants had access to:
- JackDaw GeoAI: A spatial intelligence assistant (developed by PoliRuralPlus) allowing users to query catchment data and land-use scenarios using natural language. Available at: https://trans4num.eu/jackdaw/login.
- trans4num Decision Support Tool (DST): A regional scenario-mapping tool allowing teams to simulate the environmental and economic impacts of shifting crop rotations, deploying catch crops, and implementing green biorefining. Available at: https://trans4num.cordulus.com/.
The Final Pitches: Systemic Solutions for the Limfjord
On October 23, the teams faced an international jury of experts, including representatives from Aarhus University (Tommy Dalgaard), Plan4all (Karel Charvát), ICOEL (Morten Winther Vestenaa), and Avinet (Runar Bergheim).
Each team had 8 minutes to present their landscape maps and 5-pillar Innovation Canvas, followed by a demanding 2-minute Q&A. The jury evaluated the proposals based on Nitrogen Reduction Potential, NBS Integration, Feasibility & Farmer Adoption, Climate/Biodiversity Co-benefits, and Innovative Thinking.
We are thrilled to present the winning solutions:
🥇 Gold Award: Team Meguri - Sofia Vila Verde, Marie Nishino, Komal Kumari
A Farmer-First Landscape Transition
Team Meguri won the top prize for their deeply pragmatic, bottom-up approach. Recognizing that farmers cannot bear the financial risk of the green transition alone, they designed a targeted landscape plan: grass-clover rotations on vulnerable soils, mini-wetlands in drainage depressions, and legume-cereal intercropping on highly productive land. Their key innovation was the "Transition" pillar, focusing on simplifying CAP eco-schemes, targeted subsidies for young farmers, and strengthening local supply chains to ensure economic viability accompanied ecological restoration.
🥈 Silver Award: Team Low-Hanging Fruit - Dave Peacock, Jeppe Munk, Katharina Jentzsch
Topographical Gradient Strategy
This team impressed the jury with a highly spatial, sub-catchment scale strategy that leveraged the natural flow of the landscape. They divided the catchment into three functional zones:
- Uplands (Source Control): Runoff retention basins and precision application.
- Midlands (Biological Sponge): Deep-rooted grass-clover fields harvested for regional biorefineries.
- Lowlands (Final Filter): Rewetted organic soils and constructed wetlands to denitrify water before it enters the fjord.
Their solution brilliantly aligned ecological filtration with sub-catchment circular economies.
🥉 Bronze Award: Regenerative Agriculture - Fran Jonckheere & Emma-Sophie Tossmann
Healthy Soils for Vibrant Waters
The Bronze award went to a team that went back to the roots of agroecology. Their concept focused on building soil organic matter to naturally increase water infiltration and nutrient retention. By combining year-round cover crops, diverse rooting depths, reduced tillage, and vegetated buffer strips, they demonstrated that fundamentally healthier soils keep nitrogen in the field and out of the Limfjord, while simultaneously increasing farm resilience against drought and reducing input costs.
Global Knowledge Exchange & Next Steps
The success of the trans4num INSPIRE Hackathon 2026 extends far beyond Aarhus. The actionable strategies, agent-based mitigation concepts, and feedback on the trans4num DST gathered during this event will directly feed into the project's ongoing research and policy recommendations.
Furthermore, as part of our strategic bilateral cooperation, the outcomes, methodologies, and winning landscape concepts will be shared with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and our Chinese consortium partners. This continuous knowledge exchange ensures that the data-driven nutrient abatement tools tested in Denmark can provide comparative insights for diverse agroecological regions in China.
Thank You!
A massive thank you to all the brilliant participants who dedicated their time and creativity, to our expert mentors who guided the teams, and to the jury for their rigorous evaluations. Together, we are paving the way for a more resilient and sustainable agricultural future.
