This year’s international EU TalentOn 2024 tournament brought together 108 participants from 38 countries, divided into 27 teams. Five days of intense competition resulted in many innovative and creative ideas focusing on solving challenges related to, among others, adaptation to climate change.

With my amazing team H2FAST, which included researchers from Estonia, Romania, and Cyprus, we worked on an innovative hydrogen installation project. This project enables the acquisition and storage of energy using renewable energy sources and rainwater. Our dedication, sometimes working up to 20 hours a day, led us to the finals and earned us the Audience Award, which was a great honor and recognition from other participants and observers of the event.

I proudly represented the Wrocław University of Economics and Business and hope that our project will soon be transformed into a research grant, allowing us to continue our conceptual and R&D work. I would like to thank the entire H2FAST team for their hard work and commitment, as well as everyone who supported us. This wonderful initiative by the European Commission was held this year at the University of Silesia in Katowice as part of a consortium celebrating Katowice – European City of Science 2024. This is just the beginning of our journey, but we are full of energy and motivation for further actions towards sustainable development.