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Day 1 of the challenge consisted of an introduction to YHODA and SYSC, as well as an overview of the challenges. Over the course of the challenge week, nine teams of students from the University of Sheffield explored multiple public datasets, tested different models and technical solutions, and developed their knowledge and creative ideas. The challenge culminated in presentations on Day 5 with each team sharing their insights and recommendations for one of five challenges. The event closed off with an award ceremony and team photos with YHODA’s Lead, Professor Vania Sena and SYSC’s Communications Officer, Simon Archer.

Yorkshire & Humber Office for Data Analytics (YHODA) - Data for Impact

YHODA is led by Professor Vania Sena from the University of Sheffield and was established to address longstanding data challenges across Yorkshire and the Humber as part of the Yorkshire & Humber Policy Innovation Partnership (YPIP). The partnership fosters regional collaboration that brings together universities, policymakers, communities, and businesses to co-produce solutions for sustainable and inclusive regional growth. As part of these efforts, YHODA aims to improve the accessibility and usability of publicly available data via its free data insights platform, the Yorkshire Engagement Portal (YEP).

YEP currently hosts five interactive data dashboards that provide users with insights about local and regional social, economic, environmental, and health trends. During the challenge, teams drew on YEP’s tools such as the Yorkshire Vitality Observatory and Yorkshire Vitality Neighbourhoods dashboards to gain quick insight into the relationships and trends of key indicators associated with sustainability efforts, such as greenhouse gas emissions and electric vehicle uptake. YHODA invites students, academics, or anyone interested in gaining insights about their local area to try YEP as a starting point for research, teaching, and collaborative projects.

Policymakers are already using YEP to inform early-stage planning, and the platform is set to expand its impact with a new Policy Simulator tool that will offer policymakers the ability to test local-level policies prior to implementation. The new tool is set to be released in the first quarter of 2026 at yorkshireportal.org/vitality-suite.

South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre (SYSC) - Fair and Sustainable Transition to Net Zero

The South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre is working across South Yorkshire in support of a just and sustainable transition to net-zero. Through research, it focuses on three of the highest-emitting sectors of the South Yorkshire economy, areas that are difficult to decarbonise and present complex, wicked problems. Interdisciplinarity and collaborative working are central to the SYSC. Whilst searching for technical solutions to challenges it is also important to consider how they can benefit the whole of society. The SYSC’s novel approach of connecting research together with policy ambition will act as a catalyst to drive forward a just transition to net-zero in South Yorkshire. More information about SYSC’s work can be found at sysustainabilitycentre.org.

Data Challenges Rooted in Local and Regional Priorities

Teams were presented with a selection of five challenges that reflected regional priorities of reducing emissions, addressing inequality, and supporting fairer transitions to Net Zero. 

1. Land Use for Community Energy - this challenge tasked teams with assessing the availability of land and public or commercial sites in areas of high fuel poverty in Sheffield and/or South Yorkshire that could be used for community energy projects. This challenge reflects efforts by communities and local/combined authorities to tackle fuel poverty through sustainable energy interventions. You can read more about SYSC’s efforts to tackle this challenge at sysustainabilitycentre.org/our-projects. 

2. Air Quality in Sheffield - this challenge tasked teams with measuring progress towards the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s air quality guidelines and exploring steps for improving the air quality in Sheffield in line with current initiatives led by Sheffield City Council. Find out more about this topic at sheffield.gov.uk/pollution-nuisance/air-quality. 

3. Variability in Gas Emissions - this challenge tasked teams with identifying the key factors that drive differences in gas emissions across South Yorkshire’s local authorities and applying advanced statistical models. This challenge reflects the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA)’s efforts to develop place-based strategies for emissions reduction across the region. Explore gas emissions data at yorkshireportal.org/vitality-suite/observatory. 

4. Net Zero Opportunity Index - this challenge tasked teams with creating an index to highlight which neighbourhoods in Sheffield are most ready to transition to Net Zero and which may need the most support. This challenge links to Sheffield City Council’s place-based planning for a fair and inclusive reduction of emissions across the city. For more data insights on this topic, visit yorkshireportal.org/vitality-suite/neighbourhoods. 

5. Emissions Trends and Public Health - this challenge tasked teams with examining changes in gas emissions over time, detecting outliers in gas emissions, and exploring possible links to public health outcomes such as lung cancer rates. The challenge reflects local and regional priorities focused on the reduction of gas emissions and the improvement of public health. Explore gas emissions and health data at yorkshireportal.org/vitality-suite/observatory. 

Multidisciplinary Teams for Innovative Solutions

Students from across the University of Sheffield came together to form multidisciplinary teams with diverse skills and perspectives that reflect the complexity of local and regional challenges. By bringing together students from physics and computer science, to psychology and geography, the event highlighted the need for truly collaborative and cross-disciplinary efforts to generate creative and practical solutions to sustainability challenges in South Yorkshire and beyond. 

You can read more about the teams’ ideas and solutions at YHODA: Net Zero Data Challenge. 

Emission: Impossible – Winners of “Best Solution” (Top Prize)

Ethan Beynon (MEng Mechanical Engineering); Francis Sowden (BSc Physics); Jesica Sabau (MSc Physics with Astrophysics); Liam Flóid (MPhys Physics and Astrophysics); Monica Curiel Vaz (BSc Physics)

Code4Change – Winners of “Best Data Application”

Ahmad Fikry Zakwan bin Mohd Shamsulizam (BSc Data Science); Al-Bassyar Zainuri (BSc Data Science); Riya Singh (MSc Environmental Change and International Development); Rohan Ousta (BSc Economics); Samarjeet Singh (MSc Materials Science and Engineering)

Pollution Solutions – Winners of “Most Impactful Solution”

Beomsu Koh (MSc Advanced Computer Science); Isaac Coomer (BA Global Sustainable Development); Joshua Zacharias (BEng Materials Science and Engineering); Robyn Farr (BA Global Sustainable Development); Talia Blain (BA Global Sustainable Development)

Power For The People – Winners of “Most Innovative Solution”

Chidindu Agbanelo (BSc Psychology with Year in Industry); Ella Cooper (BSc Psychology); Fiona McBride (PhD, Management School / Energy Institute); Mfonobong John (MEng Biomedical Engineering); Sam Stephens (BSc Physics with Astrophysics)

Air Solution

Amanda Joseph (MEng Bioengineering); Angelica Shokralla (BSc Psychology with Placement Year); Houda Nihal Derkaoui (BSc Computer Science); Khadija Sheikh (BSc Psychology); Manmini Gunasekera (MPhys Physics)

Breathe Sheffield

Abigail Briggs (BSc Environmental Science); Anna Walters (MMath Mathematics and Statistics with Placement Year); Callum Knight (BEng Chemical Engineering with a Year in Industry); Louis Gannon (BEng Chemical Engineering); Lovisa James (BSc Environmental Science); Milan Sharma (BEng Bioengineering)

Clean Air Collective

Jacob Campbell (MComp Computer Science with Industrial Placement Year); Madhumitha Rajendran (PhD Mechanical Engineering); Shola Enwonwu (MBiolSci Biological Science); Siwan Ellis (MBiolSci Biology); Willow McIntyre (MBiolSci Zoology)

PRYSAM

Lok Chin Leung (MSc Molecular Biology and Biotechnology); Michael Iwuji (MPlan Urban Studies and Planning); Poppy Dobson (BSc Data Science); Ronali Halwalage (PhD Chemical Engineering); Shanmathi Gnanabalan (MSc Environmental and Energy Engineering); Yun-Ju Chen (MSc Data Science)

The Underdogs

Adam Billingham (BA Politics and International Relations); Ben Mouldycliff (BA Politics and International Relations); Charlotte Hamer-Coish (BSc Geography); Hannah Crudge (BSc Geography)

Why It Matters

The Net Zero Data Challenge demonstrated how open data can support early-career researchers and policymakers in contributing toward solutions to complex sustainability questions. By working with real-world datasets and in the context of local policy priorities, the teams demonstrated the vital role universities play in understanding and tackling not only local but also global environmental challenges. 

At the University of Sheffield, students not only develop advanced skills in data science, engineering, and social research, but also apply those skills to real-world challenges at the local and regional levels. From analysing air quality data to proposing suitable sites for community energy projects, students’ contributions can help to inform policy debates, support innovation, and strengthen the local economy. 

By linking academic expertise, student talent, and publicly available data, this challenge reflected YHODA and SYSC’s mission to make data more impactful for inclusive, place-based innovation across Yorkshire and the Humber region. The Yorkshire Engagement Portal (YEP), developed by YHODA, brings together and visualises publicly available datasets to make them easier to explore and apply for that very purpose. Try the dashboards for yourself at yorkshireportal.org. 

Yorkshire & Humber Office for Data Analytics (YHODA) aims: Enhance data accessibility; Empower local decision-making; Strengthen regional collaboration.

The Yorkshire Engagement Portal (YEP) is YHODA’s free data analytics platform. It will host a suite of data dashboards and resources that help to tackle inadequate or inaccessible data about the region's economic, environmental, and social equity status by providing users with easily digestible and reliable information.

YEP will host the Yorkshire Vitality Suite (YVS) which is a collection of eight data-driven dashboard tools and resources designed to help local governments and communities understand and analyse key economic, social, and environmental trends across Yorkshire and the Humber region.

Some observations from participation in the launch event

My perspective/interest comes with a Knowledge Exchange mission and key involvements and networked interests in Creative Health; Health, Tech and Music; Culture and Creative sectors.

Observations offered are limited by the depth of my knowledge and understanding of YHODA/YEP (entry level) and are informed by my understanding of the needs, capabilities and capacities of the sectors I work most closely with, as well as the academic and researcher communities I seek to serve. I 100% welcome YHODA’s aims and the potential deriving from uptake of the resource.

The launch event was a wonderful opportunity for rich networking and connection-making.

I enjoy the approach of “sense-making data” generating “insights designed to help you make evidence-based decisions”

I can imagine the use of data deriving from YEP playing a part in helping to 1) identify and prioritise potential research and innovation interventions and 2) strengthen the rationale and business cases for the regionally-focused research and innovation project proposals I am, and are likely to be, involved in.

Seven reflections:

1. I spent a modest amount of time investigating the Industry section of the YEP Vitality Suite. As is, the classifications could be too high level for some of the necessary granularity of our sector engaging work. E.g. Human health and social work activities E.g. Arts, entertainment and recreation, E.g. Information and communication. Is it possible to integrate the next level of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) coding for more refined and purposed investigation?

2. Health data. At this time this doesn't feature although I was told that this was planned. Given the intersectionality of the domains within the complex grand challenges, wicked problems, that we are seeking to offer solutions for, health is a big element to integrate. E.g. Currently a regional focus is on improving health outcomes in order to generate better employment and employability outcomes.

3. I missed any measures/metrics/indicators relating specifically to culture and cultural participation - coming from the assumption that such participation can and does deliver significant and well-evidenced health, wellbeing, social, community and economic benefits. There are potentially relevant/related but limited/partial and potentially attribution-problematic indicators e.g. percentage of adults who volunteered in the past 12 months e.g. Mean worthwhile score e.g. Mean life satisfaction. This is of relevance to those developing and delivering important city and region cultural strategy work.

4. Place-based/issues-based. Not all inequalities have their locus as primarily place-based. E.g. relating to LGBTQ+ lived experience

5. We are living in an escalating post-truth environment where the political appreciation of the value of an evidence-based approach to decision making has the potential to massively unravel. Change-enablers are already working on ways of tailoring their language for evidence-based solutions  in ways that will give better opportunity for buy-in by audiences and policy-actors across a range of political affiliations.

6. The long term future of YEP beyond the current funded period. Assurance that time invested in using YEP now can be sustained long term is important for potential users.

7. We know that having accessible data and insight for informing decision making is one element for driving inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the Yorkshire and the Humber region? However what are the other elements, considerations, practices, processes, investments etc. required for achieving this inclusive and sustainable growth? What are the mechanisms that ensure that the best benefit derives from YEP’s active engagement within this matrix?

What are your thoughts? What are your requirements for regional data and insight in your work? Let the YHODA team know at yhoda@sheffield.ac.uk.

The Yorkshire & Humber Office for Data Analytics (YHODA) - one of the YPIP’s work packages focused on tackling regional data challenges - recently played a role in the Data and Design Hackathon 2025, hosted at the University of Sheffield and organised by a multidisciplinary team based at the Faculty of Social Sciences. 

During the event, held between 7–11 April, the YHODA team asked the brilliant students at the University of Sheffield to tackle two regional data challenges: “Predicting which local authorities are on track to reach Net Zero based on their historical emissions” and “Identifying emission patterns across local authorities and how they relate to key economic indicators”. These questions reflect YHODA's aim to support evidence-based policymaking via the creation of a regional data hub called the Yorkshire Engagement Portal (YEP), which is launching this June.

Two teams emerged as winners for the YHODA challenge. Team EcoLogic impressed judges with their dynamic forecasting tool for gas emissions and found that North Lincolnshire, Hull, and Leeds are the most likely to reach Net Zero by 2050. The team made some practical recommendations to help local authorities move toward Net Zero targets, such as investing in low-carbon public transport and industrial decarbonisation. Team Rubik’s Cube built a “Growth vs. Green” dashboard that merged business activity and GVA data with CO₂ emissions. By clustering similar local authorities, they revealed where economic strength aligns with higher pollution, which can empower local authorities to spot opportunities for boosting growth while reducing emissions.

As part of YPIP, YHODA benefits from strong partnerships with regional stakeholders, notably the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) who sponsored their own transport-focused challenges and prizes for the event. The event was funded by the University’s Campaigns and Alumni Relations team and further sponsored by Sheffield Technology Parks with dissemination support from Sheffield Digital.

Award Details

• Ethical Innovation Award - Rubik’s Cube (Shristi Adhikari, Areez Muhammed, Kulisara Kittivibul, Seadon Rodrigues, Aparna Swaminathan)

• Most Creative Solution Towards a Sustainable Future - EcoLogic (Janhavi Pawar, Muhamad Irfan Bin Muhd Ramiza, Silu Yu, Jie Cai, Shixiong Xu)

Read More about the Event