Wetskills Colombia 2018
Maria Gomes & Luuk Vermeulen
As the day before, the Dutch students woke up in the hotel and jumped into the taxi around 8:15. As soon as we all arrived at the university we took a group picture of everyone on the stairs. Then, the leisure part was over and the serious program started by explaining the cases.
The first case is about recovering the wetlands of Laguna de Sonso. The case owner (CVC and Waterboard De Dommel) explained about the issues that Laguna de Sonso faces. The Laguna has a high sedimentation rate and reduction of water surface. The consequences of these issues result in a loss of both economical aspects and biodiversity.
After this, a video was showed about the second case: water conflicts over the municipal aqueduct of Supía, due to water supply problems (Corpocaldas and Waterboard Rijn & IJssel).
The third case was pitched, also in a short video. This case was about a climate test for climate policy performance by regional water authorities. The main goal was to develop better governance on regional water management worldwide.
The last case (CAEM and Water Footprint Implementation) was about reducing the water footprint for Colombian´s natural juices to get and maintain a sustainable future.
After explaining the cases, the teams were revealed. Every team existed of a intercultural mix of Colombian and Dutch students. We started a brain hurricane, where everyone could put their wild and out-of-the-box ideas about their cases.
Followed after the brain hurricane we went out to get a typical Colombian lunch, with white rice, plantain and roasted chicken or stew chicken, and for drinks we had Aguapanela or Kola Roman. When lunch was finished, we had to hurry to complete the brain hurricane and prepare the presentations about our first ideas. After each presentation the other groups could help and give their feedback about the cases. Before the end of the day we had to make a plan of action, with a planning, ideas and the real challenge.
In the end, after a hard day of work and a head full of sparkling ideas everyone was free to relax and have dinner with a fresh Aguila in the city center.
