Nuremberg | Claude Code Impact Lab
🚀 Claude Impact Lab Hackathon #2
Build AI for good — a one-day social-impact hackathon in Nuremberg
📅 Monday, 5 October 2026 · 12:00–20:00 📍 Fraunhofer IIS (Standort Nürnberg), Nordostpark 84, 90411 Nürnberg
⚠️ ONLY APPLY IF YOU CAN COMMIT TO THE FULL DAY ⚠️ Limited spots and a waiting list. This is a hackathon — teams build together, so a no-show leaves a team a person down. RSVP and don't show → you lose priority for future events. Community over flakiness.
What is this?
One day. 3 challenges. Real AI prototypes for real Nuremberg problems. The Claude Impact Lab brings founders, makers, and first-time builders together to tackle impact challenges from our partners at Fraunhofer IIS and the City of Nuremberg's Wirtschafts- und Wissenschaftsreferat — and ship something that matters by the end of the night.
Not sure you're "technical enough"? Good. We want you here.
Track 1 — Express buses, despite a driver shortage
Input from Fraunhofer IIS
The challenge: Nuremberg has enough buses to run additional express services — what it doesn't have is enough drivers. Timetables, routes, rotas and vehicle availability all have to line up before a single extra line can run.
Hackathon question: How can AI help optimise timetables, routes, rotas and available resources so additional express bus services can launch with as little extra staff as possible — or using the staff already there?
Possible AI application: AI-supported optimisation that brings together demand, passenger flows, timetables, vehicle availability and staffing capacity to surface particularly efficient operating scenarios.
Track 2 — The vegetable market of the future
Input from Fraunhofer IIS
The challenge: Nuremberg's vegetable market currently sits on the Hauptmarkt, but its location puts urban planning and logistics at odds. Possible relocations — towards the Lorenzkirche, or into the ground floor of the former Kaufhof — raise the same question: where should a future market sit so it works for traders, residents and visitors alike? Accessibility, walking distances, visitor flows, retail mix and a fair distribution of foot traffic all have to be weighed.
Hackathon question: How can AI simulate and evaluate different potential locations to find the fairest and most attractive site for the Nuremberg vegetable market?
Possible AI application: A model that simulates location options, forecasts visitor flows, evaluates them against multiple criteria, and recommends how to steer visitor flow and integrate surrounding shops and public space.
Track 3 — AI for Good in Nuremberg
Input from the City of Nuremberg's Wirtschafts- und Wissenschaftsreferat
The challenge: Nuremberg wants to become more sustainable, innovative and liveable — but its big challenges can't be solved by any one stakeholder. Knowledge, data and expertise sit scattered across the city administration, businesses, start-ups and academia, and the potential of AI stays untapped as long as those forces don't work together.
Hackathon question: How can businesses, the city, start-ups and researchers use AI to build a concrete solution that benefits Nuremberg as a whole — not just individuals?
Teams choose their own area of focus, for example: mobility & urban space (making transport, routes and public spaces more efficient and attractive), sustainability (measurable improvements in heat management, energy, resources or land use), participation & administration (making municipal services and information accessible to everyone), community & volunteering (bringing people, skills and needs together more effectively), and location & knowledge (making expertise, data and local partners visible and usable).
More specific if you want a sharper brief: how AI can make municipal information genuinely accessible to a diverse, multilingual city; how AI can make Nuremberg measurably more sustainable and liveable, from heat-hotspot models to resource-saving tools; or how AI can better match volunteers, time, skills and needs across clubs and social initiatives.
How it works
12:00 — Doors open, check in, grab coffee, set up
12:30 — Welcome + intro to the challenges and our partners
12:45 — Team formation (Max 4) & pick your challenge
13:00 — Hacking begins (mentors circulating to help)
16:30 — Dinner break 🍽️
17:00 — Back to building
18:30 — Team pitches (~2 min each)
19:40 — Judging, winners & prizes
19:50 — Celebrate & network
20:00 — Wrap up
Who should come?
Anyone who wants to build AI for good — founders, side-project hackers, students, designers, researchers, and curious first-timers. All skill levels welcome.
And this matters: we especially want people with lived experience of these problems, not only engineers — commuters who rely on the buses, market regulars, neighbours who just care about their Kiez. The best work on impact happens when the people affected are building the solution, not just being built for. If a challenge speaks to you, you belong here, whatever your background.
English & German-speaking. Bring your laptop.
The prize 🏆
TBD — we're finalising details and will announce them soon.
No strings attached — winners are free to take their idea forward, or not. If you do want to keep going, we'll help you.
How we judge
Innovativeness — how original is the idea? Feasibility & practicability — could this actually be built and used? Impact & business value — does it create real social value? Pitch — how clearly and convincingly do you tell the story?
Perks
Free (always will be). $100 in Anthropic API credits per attendee to build with. Coffee, dinner, snacks & refreshments. Mentoring on the day + access to Nuremberg's growing AI builder community.
Rules
✅ RSVP = show up (no-shows lose future priority)
✅ Build for impact
✅ Share knowledge openly
✅ Help others when they're stuck
✅ Bring an open mind — and your laptop
About Fraunhofer IIS
We're hosting at Fraunhofer IIS's Nuremberg site in Nordostpark — one of the largest institutes within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Europe's leading organisation for applied research. Fraunhofer IIS co-developed the mp3 audio format and works today across audio and media technology, communications, imaging, positioning and increasingly AI systems for industry, mobility and society.
Sponsored by the official Anthropic Claude Community programme & supported by Fraunhofer IIS, NIK and the City of Nuremberg.
See you there! 🚀