Hack The Future
Municipality of Shumen
Host institution
Who can join
Students aged 15 to 19
From Shumen or anywhere in Bulgaria
Apply alone or with a team
Schools can nominate students
No experience required
PARTICIPATION
Apply for Hack The Future
APPLICATION
Who's behind it
Sofia Tech Park
Innovation partner
Shumen Institute of Technology
Academic partner
Visoko Darvo
Strategic partner
Hack The Future is part of CATALIZATOR, the leadership and governance platform hosted by the Municipality of Shumen.
CATALIZATOR brings together mayors, business leaders, and academics to work on the future of cities.
Hack The Future brings the same questions to the people who will live with the answers longest. That's you.
ABOUT
The country you're about to inherit is changing faster than the systems built to run it.
Work, climate, technology, your city, your own mental health, the economy. None of it looks the way it did even ten years ago, and none of it is going to slow down.
WHY THIS EXISTS
The country you're about to inherit is changing faster than the systems built to run it. Work, climate, technology, your city, your own mental health, the economy. None of it looks the way it did even ten years ago, and none of it is going to slow down.
No one has the full playbook for what comes next. Not your teachers. Not your parents. Not the mayors. Not us.
The honest truth is this. The people who will live longest with the decisions being made right now are the ones with the least say in them.
Hack The Future exists to change that.
The work you do in these two days is not symbolic.
Mentors take it seriously.
The jury takes it seriously.
Partners take it seriously.
The strongest ideas become the starting point for real conversations with institutions that can act on them.
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June 27
03
Award ceremony.
The strongest teams are recognized in front of the city.
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June 27
02
Build and present.
Your team turns your idea into something real you can show. Mentors stay in the room. By the end of the day, every team presents to the jury.
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June 26
01
Form, choose, start.
Teams form in the morning. You meet your team, pick your theme, and start working. Mentors are in the room throughout the day to push back on weak ideas, sharpen the strong ones, and connect you to information you don't yet have. Workshops in the afternoon on how to build a pitch.
SCHEDULE
The future is changing faster than the systems built around it.
The people who will live longest with today's decisions usually have the smallest voice in making them.
OUTCOMES
What you get out of it
- Two days working on something real.
- Your team, plus mentors from Bulgarian business, technology, and academia in the room with you the whole time.
- Workshops on how to build, pitch, and present an idea.
- Recognition in front of the city if your team's work stands out.
- A certificate of participation for your CV and university applications.
- A network of people you'll keep working with for the next ten years.
- The chance for your idea to actually go somewhere. The strongest work becomes the starting point for real conversations with institutions that can act on it.
PILOT EDITION // SHUMEN 2026
FOUR REAL CHALLENGES. ONE FUTURE TO BUILD.
Choose one of four questions Bulgaria is already facing.
Spend two days building something that could become part of the answer.
BRIEF ACTIVE 48H BUILD WINDOW
MISSION 01
Future of Work
How does Shumen become a place where young people build their future?
AI, automation, and new industries are changing what jobs exist and what skills matter. The path from school to work needs to make sense for your region, not someone else's.
POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS
- Youth career platform
- New internship model
- Local jobs campaign
- Tool connecting young people with companies
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Career pathway prototype
- Skills-to-jobs map
- Employer partnership model
BRIEF ACTIVE 48H BUILD WINDOW
MISSION 02
Environment & Crisis Response
How does Bulgaria react faster to fires, floods, and emergencies?
Climate is hitting harder and faster. Communities need better tools to prepare, respond, and protect each other before disaster happens.
POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS
- Digital volunteer system
- Crisis communication plan
- Early-warning sensor concept
- Emergency map
- Public-readiness campaign
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Response coordination prototype
- Early-warning concept
- Community readiness plan
BRIEF ACTIVE 48H BUILD WINDOW
MISSION 03
Mental Health & Youth Wellbeing
How does a city actually take care of the mental health of its young people?
Anxiety, isolation, pressure, and burnout are hitting your generation harder than any before it, and most of the systems that should be helping are absent or behind. You are the experts on this.
POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS
- Peer-support platform
- School-based program
- Anti-stigma campaign
- Digital wellbeing tool
- Proposal for how the municipality should serve young people's mental health
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Support system prototype
- Service proposal for the municipality
- Anti-stigma campaign
BRIEF ACTIVE 48H BUILD WINDOW
MISSION 04
Local Products, Food & Future Business
How does Bulgaria turn local strengths into future opportunities?
Bulgaria has serious local products, food traditions, and creative people, but many producers struggle to reach younger consumers or new markets.
POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS
- Digital marketplace
- Brand campaign
- Tourism-food experience
- Packaging concept
- Platform connecting producers with schools, restaurants, and customers
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Market access prototype
- Local brand system
- Distribution partnership map
[ 01 FUTURE / 04 MISSIONS ]
What this is
Two days. Your team. A real problem. A jury that takes you seriously. A ceremony when the strongest teams get recognized in front of the city.
You and the other young people in the room pick one of four challenges facing Bulgaria right now. You spend two days working on it together. You build something real, a pitch, a prototype, a plan, a campaign, and you present it to a jury made up of people from business, government, and academia.
You do not need to be a programmer. You do not need to already have an idea. You do not need to be top of your class. You need to want to be there.
If you've ever looked at something in your city, your school, or your country and thought "this could be better," this is where you stop just thinking it.
INTRODUCTION
Stop waiting for the future. Start building it.
A two-day challenge for 15 to 19-year-olds in Shumen. Pick a real problem facing Bulgaria. Build a solution with your team. Present it to people who can actually do something about it.