After two exciting weeks in Hangzhou, the Wetskills China 2018 teams pitched their solutions during the opening ceremony of the Aquatech Shanghai, on 31 May 2018.
The winning team, Tidal Power, had the strongest pitch-poster combination introducing a detention basin and nature-based solution for the floods occurring in the Zhejiang province of China. Typhoons can cause severe flooding in the Hangzhou bay area, with economic losses amounting to billions and thousands of people having to relocate. The Wetskills team composed of Dutch, Chinese and Spanish students, designed a detention basin with sustainable dykes that can reduce the flood risk by 98%. The case owner, the Zhejiang Institute of Estuary and Hydrology, also presented the case from their perspective the next day, during the H2O Smart Water programme. The Institute showed high interest for the solution proposed by the team, which will be pursued in a WetsNext project.
The jury existed this time of: Ms. Yuanyuan (Beijing Capital Co. Ltd), Prof. Hao (Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture) and Mr. Jansen (Waternet – Amsterdam).
Next to the Tidal Power team, great solutions were pitched for 3 more cases: extended applications for a water conservancy integrated management platform, owned by the Zhejiang Yugong Technology Institute; an investigation into the heat/cold storage systems in the greenhouse area of the Westland Municipality; and providing ways for overcoming bottlenecks in becoming climate resilient in the province of Overijssel (Westland Municipality and the province of Overijssel being the respective case owners).
After the pitches, the programme continued for two more days at the Aquatech Shanghai Young Water Professionals booth, where Andrea Kralikova hosted a series of inspiring talks and interactive moments in a mix of Wetskills participants and general public.
The Wetskills China 20018 was the second edition of Wetskills in China, and will be the basis of next year’s third edition. Alumni from the first ever Wetskills Water Challenge in Shanghai in 2010, together with this year’s participants will help bring Wetskills once again to China.
Xie xie and zaijian until 2019!
