Wetskills Challenge comes to Bulawayo

Ashley Phiri, [email protected]
In a bid to address the pressing water challenges facing Zimbabwe and the region, the city of Bulawayo, in collaboration with the Wetskills Foundation, the Kingdom of the Netherlands Embassy, the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the Green Hut Trust have launched the Wetskills Challenge.
The Challenge is an international programme aimed at empowering the next generation of water professionals by encouraging creative, practical solutions for real-world water issues.
In Bulawayo, the challenge is running for two weeks which commenced on 13 September and will end on 25 September. This inaugural edition will feature 22 participants including 18 from Zimbabwe, three from Ghana and one from the Netherlands.
According to a joint statement released by the stakeholders, the programme will bring together various professionals to come up with ideas for sustainable solutions for water challenges that are being worsened by climate change.
“The Wetskills Challenge will bring local, regional, and international Bachelor, Masters, and PhD students, recent graduates, and young professionals to develop creative, sustainable solutions for water-related issues exacerbated by climate change. These challenges include droughts, floods, and water quality degradation, all of which profoundly impact communities and ecosystems in Zimbabwe and beyond,” reads the statement.
“For this challenge, local, regional, international students and young professionals from Zimbabwe, Ghana, and the Netherlands will work in multidisciplinary teams to address water-related challenges, such as droughts, floods, and water quality degradation, which are increasingly critical in light of climate change,”
Through an intense two-week programme, participants will engage in workshops, field visits, brainstorming sessions, and mentorship, fostering creative problem-solving and cross-border collaboration. The challenge culminates in a final presentation session at Bulawayo’s large City Hall on 24 September.
Participants will tackle four real-life cases presented by the city of Bulawayo and Green Hut Trust namely, enhancing drought preparedness and resilience, building urban food resilience with climate-smart systems and wastewater reuse, UMzingwane’s catchment caretakers: ensuring a sustainable water supply and Industry focused water use in Bulawayo.
The Wetskills Foundation is a Dutch non-profit organisation that has organised water challenges in over 29 countries worldwide. Its goal is to inspire young professionals to take on global water challenges through innovative, interdisciplinary problem-solving.
Earlier this year the foundation held similar programmes in the region, one held in Mozambique in July and another held in South Africa in June. Mozambique and South Africa were both hosting the event for the second time.