We’re so excited to announce that Coolest Projects is taking place this summer as an online showcase! Coolest Projects has traditionally taken place as a free face-to-face event, with thousands of young people from all over the world showcasing projects they have created.
After making the tough decision to cancel the Coolest Projects events in Dublin and Manchester earlier this year, we began working hard to build a solution that would allow us to host our technology showcase online in 2020: we want to recognise the achievements of young creators and bring a global community together to inspire and celebrate the next generation of digital makers.
Wherever you are in the world, you can enter a project
For young people who enjoy making things with technology, Coolest Projects is an amazing opportunity to get creative, have fun, learn from others, and be a part of something truly special.
Coolest Projects is free, it’s open to anyone up to the age of 18, and young people can join in from anywhere in the world. All project types and all levels of skill are encouraged, from beginner to advanced, and it doesn’t matter whether the project is a work in progress, a prototype, or a finished product — we want to see it all!
By registering a project to take part in Coolest Projects, young makers get the wonderful opportunity to share their work with a community of fellow creators, and with the whole world. We will showcase all submitted projects on our new Coolest Projects digital platform, so that together, we can all celebrate the effort, enthusiasm, and creativity of young people who have an idea and make it a reality using tech.
Dreams for the future
At Coolest Projects, young people are empowered to showcase their ideas, designs, and dreams for the future, which feels so important right now. Past participants in Coolest Projects have gone on to win engineering competitions and international awards, and have been featured in national media. And the young creators who’ve participated in Coolest Projects always tell us that they really enjoy taking part, and gain a great sense of pride and achievement from sharing what they’ve made with the world.
Previous participant Estela Liobikaitė from Strokestown, Co. Roscommon took part in Coolest Projects International last year. Estela began coding at school with her teacher, Ms Gilleran, and developed a love for animation. Estela talks about the possibilities coding gives young people.
“I like coding because it is very entertaining to play to learn about technology. Coding gives a person many opportunities and possibilities.”
Sofia and Mihai, both aged 9, also took part in Coolest Projects International 2019. They had travelled from Slatina in Romania, where they attend a Code Club in their community. Sofia and Mihai both love animals, and created their project, Friendship Saves Endangered Species, to raise awareness about the fragile ecosystem.
Their advice for other young people thinking of getting involved in Coolest Projects is: “Follow your dream, put your ideas into practice, because Coolest Projects is a great opportunity!”
How it works
Projects will become available for anyone to view once the digital showcase opens in June, and in July, a series of high-profile guests will announce their favourite projects!
Projects should be entered into one of six categories: Hardware, Scratch, Mobile Apps, Web, Games (excluding Scratch), and Advanced Programming. Once registration opens, you will need to upload your project and share some details with us about what you have created.
If you are registering a project made in Scratch: when registration opens, save your project to our Scratch Studio, and answer a few questions about your project in the Scratch description, then complete our registration form.
If you are registering a project in another category: make a short video (maximum of two minutes) in which you screen share your code and answer a few questions about your project. When registration opens, upload the video to YouTube or Vimeo, then complete our registration form.
Look out for more information about how to register and make your video coming soon!
We can’t wait to see your ideas
Join us and share your Scratch project, website, game, robot, or anything else you’ve built with technology.
For project registration opening and closing dates and more details, please sign up to our mailing list.
Coolest Projects is the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s flagship event. The work of the Raspberry Pi Foundation is made possible by an amazing community of people and organisations who share our mission. We are immensely grateful for the continued support of our partners through the evolution of this online event for 2020.
This year’s Coolest Projects online showcase wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors below — thank you!
Platinum sponsors
Gold sponsors
SME and Community supporters
