Between 15 and 25 October, the first Iranian Wetskills Challenge will take place in Iran. During the event in Tehran, 25 students and young professionals from Iran and The Netherlands will work together in teams to come up with out-of-the-box concepts for actual water related cases, posed by Iranian and Dutch case owners. The event is aligned to the trade mission of Minister of Infrastructure & Environment of The Netherlands, Ms. Schultz van Haegen to Iran. The Sharif University of Technology Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran are joinly hosting the event.
International collaboration on global issues
Wetskills and all participants are happy with the political and cultural developments that make it possible for the event to take place. ‘Iran has many water related challenges that are becoming very urgent’, says Sara Mehryar, an Iranian PhD, currently working at the ITC-University of Twente. During this Wetskills Challenge, she will be one of the case owners. Meyhryar: ‘With 85 million people, of which 12 million living in Tehran, we really need good solutions. Wetskills is a great initiative and it’s an opportunity for both Dutch and Iranian water professionals.’
Cases
Five case owners can expect out-of-the box concept by the team of students and young professional from the watersector. BersonUV submitted a case about ideas to implement (waste)water treatment with UV-light. The case of ITC-University of Twente focuses on solutions for water scarcity in Rafsanjan Township, an area of Iran where pistachio nuts are grown. Another case focuses on Lake Urmia, a big salt lake that is shrinking rapidly. The Dutch Water Authorities with ‘Waterschap De Dommel’ submitted a case about water-efficiency for irrigation in the Hashtgerd plain. Van Oord Derdging Company is the last case owner.
Intensive program
On October 16 the event will be officially opened with the the so-called BrainHurricane: an interactive brainstorming event where the mixed teams will learn more about their cases and case owners. Through a special speed date session with several Iranian and Dutch experts from the water industry, the teams get the opportunity to collect information and inspiration. The teams will present their concepts with a pitch and a poster presentation session at the Sharif University of Technology on Sunday 23 October. A jury will decide the winning team in the event. During the Trade Mission Dinner on Monday 24 October, Minister of Infrastructure & Environment of The Netherlands, Ms. Schultz van Haegen will announce the winning team.
About Wetskills
The Wetskills Water Challenge is a two-weeks pressure-cooker program for students and young professionals with a passion for water from all over the world. In transdisciplinary and transcultural teams they work together on water-related challenges. Their challenge: develop innovative and out-of-the-box solution for water challenges in a fast changing world. The challenges are real life and local cases from companies and (governmental) organisations from the water sector.
Wetskills was firstly organized in 2010 and became an independent Foundation in 2015. Since 2010 21 Wetskills events have been organized worldwide, in 16 different countries. More than 400 participants and 100 universities and organizations were involved. The Challenges take place worldwide, usually during international water related events, expert meetings or trade missions.
More information:
| Sharif University of Technology (Tehran) | Wetskills Foundation (in The Netherlands) | Wetskills Foundation (in Iran) |
| Mr. Ali Maleki
Deputy director of RISTIP |
Mr. Johan Oost
Managing Director |
Mr. Tim van der Staaij
Programme officer |
| a.maleki@sharif.edu. | johan.oost@wetskills.com | Tim.van.der.staaij@wetskills.com |
Website: www.wetskills.com
Twitter: @Wetskills, #Wetskills
Facebook: Wetskills
