\u201cI think we all came out of this contest better equipped to tackle real-world problems,\u201d said Joon Choi, a first-year student majoring in environmental engineering science. \u201cThat in itself is super rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Choi was part of the team that created ReMove, an AI and outreach program to help connect residents to services and reduce the piles of mattresses and other bulky items that get left behind during student move-out each May. While the campus and city have some existing efforts to help transport bulky items to proper facilities, resource limitations and educational gaps persist.<\/p>\n
It was the kind of project that fit well with Choi\u2019s interests. In high school, he helped develop a cafeteria waste recycling program. He wanted to use the Civic Innovation Challenge to better understand the constraints around scaling similar kinds of initiatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Students](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC_0930-1.jpg\")
Sejin Kim (left), Ayoung Cho (center) and Harvir Kaur (right) explain how their project, AccCo, compares to existing accessibility tools. The team, which also included Suk Min Hwang, shared top honors at the Berkeley Civic Innovation Challenge and will be fast-tracked into the final round of the Big Ideas Contest. <\/p>\n
Brandon S\u00e1nchez Mejia\/UC Berkeley<\/p>\n
Curiosity about using technology and innovation to solve municipal challenges was widespread. One team envisioned a wildfire readiness platform that could help Berkeley Hills residents adapt to changing policies around defensible space near their homes \u2014 and use AI to reimagine their gardens in fire-safe ways. Another pitched a website, helpline and in-person option to streamline personalized assistance for residents at risk of becoming homeless. Students also created a prototype of a platform to alert small businesses to new city contracts they could be eligible for, with the intent of supporting businesses that call Berkeley home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While there is no guarantee that the city will implement the top ideas, program and city leaders said there is real interest in supporting the most promising solutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a place that wants to welcome entrepreneurs and your entrepreneurial ideas,\u201d said Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii, a Berkeley alum who was one of the contest judges. \u201cWe want to encourage you to think about these civic challenges that we face in our city and how you all can actually help us solve some of these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chancellor Rich Lyons, who was also a judge, said the event was a remarkable showcase of the collaboration and relationship between the campus and the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure it\u2019s been stronger in my lifetime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Vera](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC_1253.jpg\")
California\u2019s chief technology innovation officer Vera Zakem, UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons and Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii were judges for the Berkeley Civic Innovation Challenge final round Friday, Feb. 6, at Berkeley SkyDeck. <\/p>\n
Brandon S\u00e1nchez Mejia\/UC Berkeley<\/p>\n
The contest\u2019s other winner, AccCo, proposed a fix that could have applications far beyond the city. Some 2,000 Berkeley residents are visually impaired, yet many websites and critical city documents are not accessible. That\u2019s why the team created an \u201caccessibility coach\u201d \u2014 AccCo for short. Integrated AI technology can help improve existing documents that aren\u2019t accessible while also training staff to upload new, accessible ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sejin Kim, a second-year master\u2019s student in information management and systems, has been interested in accessibility issues for years. The prospect of contributing to a solution motivated her to join the challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The team spent the bulk of their week interviewing city employees and visually impaired people. It wasn\u2019t until the day before the deadline that they landed on a way to overcome the difficulties with existing tools. They realized the focus needed to be on designing a solution for people who create documents \u2014\u00a0not just for people who consume them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was an opportunity to understand the problem in a new way, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to participate in this event because I saw it as a great opportunity to work on a real, meaningful problem in collaboration with the city of Berkeley,\u201d Kim said. \u201cRecognizing this shared pain point helped us clarify our direction and create a more focused, meaningful solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Winners](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC_1901.jpg\")
Teams from AccCo, left, and ReMove, right, gathered with judges after winning the inaugural Berkeley Civic Innovation Challenge. The final round was held Friday, Feb. 6, at Berkeley SkyDeck. <\/p>\n
Brandon S\u00e1nchez Mejia\/UC Berkeley<\/p>\n
In coordination with the city\u2019s Office of Economic Development, the new competition was led by the UC Berkeley Big Ideas Contest<\/a>, the campus\u2019s 20-year-old accelerator program housed within the Blum Center for Developing Economies<\/a>. Phillip Denny, director of the Big Ideas Contest, said it was inspiring to see how the new contest focused students\u2019 creative energy on local issues.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real energy came from the students this week,\u201d Denny told attendees on Friday. \u201cYou put in time. You put in energy. You put in wisdom. It was just amazing to see how much you put into this.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to taking top honors, the teams behind AccCo and ReMove will be fast-tracked into the final round of the Big Ideas Contest, which has led to the launch of more than 550 social ventures spanning 50 countries since its inception. They will continue developing and refining their ideas for the rest of the semester, receive structured mentorship and guidance, and be eligible to compete for up to $20,000 in funding to support the next phase of their work.<\/p>\n \u201cIt blows me away that these projects are one week old,\u201d said Darren Cooke, the campus\u2019s interim chief innovation and entrepreneurship officer. \u201cThe students didn\u2019t know each other a week ago. I can\u2019t wait to see what they do when they\u2019ve worked together for a full semester.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Berkeley faces hurdles like many other municipalities. But the city also has an advantage: UC Berkeley students known…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2791,8610,3310,143,145,144],"class_list":["post-177010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-campus","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-innovation","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}