The Delta Academy of the Myanmar-Netherlands Water Challenge 2016 was not to be missed in Yangon last week as a long line of orange umbrellas could be seen marching the city waterfront, port site and even the rural townships across the river. Moreover, anyone listening-in on the action indoors could have easily mistaken it for the local food market as teams were passionately bargaing their deals (note: after this week, the word polderen has been officially adopted into the Myanmar language!).
It all started on Tuesday 10 May as forty selected students and young professionals from nine universities and institutes across Myanmar came together for a 3-day intensive program to learn about sustainable delta development. Through a rich program of case studies, field trips, guest lectures and team assignments they were taken on a journey through the delta: analysing the typical challenges and opportunities of the delta, understanding the underlying drivers, weighing the interests of stakeholders and developing their own ideas and solutions.
On 29 February and 1 March, the Myanmar-Netherlands Water Challenge 2016 kicked-off with an exciting on-campus program at Yangon Technological University and Myanmar Maritime University. All together, more than a hundred students from nine universities and institutes participated in an informative and fun program, introducing the Smart Delta theme. After presentations by the program Lead Partners - Van Oord, Deltares, Arcadis, Royal HaskoningDHV and the Netherlands Embassy - the students worked on a mini "delta challenge', supported by the company experts.
The following two videos capture the highlights of each of the campus programs:
Monday 18 January 2016 saw the official launch of the Myanmar-Netherlands Water Challenge 2016. Under the theme SMART DELTA, the program is engaging university students from nine universities across Myanmar with the challenges of sustainable delta development. Student teams will be encouraged to apply their own, original thinking to develop ideas and solutions for the Ayeyarwady Delta, supported by professional experts from Royal HaskoningDHV, Van Oord, Deltares, Arcadis and the Netherlands Embassy in Yangon.
The Myanmar-Netherlands Water Challenge 2016 was officially launched during a celebratory event at Yangon Technological University. Marten Hillen, Director Business Development Water Asia Pacific of Royal HaskoningDHV says: “We are pleased to work with Myanmar’s highly motivated students to work on the country’s water challenges. This Water Challenge is a great opportunity to show students how exciting it is to work in the water sector. We look forward to growing our team of water professionals in Yangon.”
Yangon/Amsterdam, 9 December 2015
A prominent group of companies and organisations from the Dutch water sector is announcing the first edition of the Myanmar-Netherlands Water Challenge to start in January 2016.
Under the theme SMART DELTA, the program will engage university students across Myanmar with the challenges of sustainable delta development. Students will be encouraged to apply their own, original thinking to develop ideas and solutions for the Ayeyarwady Delta, supported by professional experts from the Dutch partners.
Recap of a Fantastic Australia Challenge 2015! Watch the videos.
