Wetskills

The Wetskills Water Challenge is a two-weeks pressure-cooker programme for students and young professionals with a passion for water from all over the world. They meet in a country and work in transdisciplinary and transcultural teams at water-related topics. The main challenge: develop as a team your own innovative and out-of-the-box solution for water and sustainability challenges in a changing world. The study cases are provided and formed by study case owners, companies and organisation with a dedicated challenge in a local situation. These concepts are presented during the formal event through an ice-breaking and energizing session. It provides a floor to integrate generations, water challenges, disciplines and cultures. Wetskills focus at real-life challenges, strongly linked to the sector. The so-called case owners are smaller and larger companies, governments, knowledge institutes and NGOs or a consortium of more than one organisation from the water sector of The Netherlands and/or partner-country. The organisation formulates the study case for one of the Wetskills teams. The study cases describe a water-related challenge, based on the regional challenges of the country where the Wetskills is held. The team is challenged to find an out-of-the-box and applicable solution for the case owner and present it at the formal water-related event. This networking and knowledge exchange event has been organised in more than ten countries all over the world. Since 2010, Wetskills attracted 500 participants in one of the more than 25 events: Asia (China, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and India), North Africa & Middle East (Iran, Oman, Morocco, Egypt and Israel), Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa & Mozambique), Europe (Romania, United Kingdom & the Netherlands), North America (United States & Canada) and Latin America (Colombia).