Projects / NASA International Space Apps Challenge 2024
Award winnerMost InspirationalConfidence: medium
Eco-Metropolis (Innovisionaries)
A three-level city-building game that teaches sustainability, ending with urban-planning decisions made on real NASA Earth data.
Project facts
- Track / challenge
- SDGs in the Classroom
- Team
- 4 people · AE
- Build
- software only
- AI
- None stated
Problem
Sustainability is hard to teach as a lesson; students need to practise the trade-offs cities face.
Solution
A Pygame city-building simulation with levels for ages 12–14, 14–16 and 16–18: guided basics, then resource and waste decisions, then data-driven planning with NASA Worldview/MODIS and UAE government datasets scored on carbon, water and biodiversity. Players take roles such as urban planner or waste manager.
Demo moment
Not described in the sources.
Why it stood out
- organizer statedWon the award for the project that captures our hearts.Source ↗
- organizer statedInspires sustainability through gameplay: players make urban planning and resource decisions based on real-world environmental data.Source ↗
- team statedLevels are matched to school age groups, so one game spans a curriculum.Source ↗
- curator inferenceThe challenge asked for a lesson plan; turning it into a playable game made the entry memorable to judges.
Lessons for your next hackathon
- A familiar game genre can carry an education challenge further than the literal deliverable.
- No AI in the product and a prototype on a shared drive still won an inspiration award.
Similar situations
Projects that share domains, mechanisms or judging lenses — often with a different problem and stack.Tune the comparison.
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Sources
- https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/stem-engagement-at-nasa/nasa-international-space-apps-challenge-announces-2024-global-winners/ · official results · retrieved 2026-09-14
- https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/nasa-space-apps-2024/awards/ · official event page · retrieved 2026-09-14 — Award definition.
- https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/nasa-space-apps-2024/find-a-team/innovisionaries/?tab=project · project page · retrieved 2026-09-14 — Team-written game design, levels, data list; AI use 'N/A'.