Launched in February 2018, the Open Innovation Competition is the City of Melbourne's annual challenge to solve a city issue.

With a different theme each year, the competition calls for innovators, entrepreneurs, students and community members to submit their bright ideas to solve the challenge. It is designed to tap into the creativity and expertise of our community, and stimulate new ideas and effective solutions.

Participants are encouraged to incorporate data and emerging technology into their ideas to address common urban challenges.

This year, the theme for the Open Innovation Competition is ‘waste elimination and the circular economy’.

We invited the community to examine supply chains and systems to find ways to help eliminate the 800,000 tonnes of waste disposed of within the City of Melbourne boundary every year, some of which is recycled, most of which goes to landfill.

A panel of mentors and experts was available to anyone considering entering the competition.