1st December, Kick off and an introduction of the cases, Menno Brouwer

1st December, Kick off and an introduction of the cases, Menno Brouwer

This Sunday was a great gathering of all the participants, and experts. Today the working part of the program started. After a delicious breakfast served by the university everybody and everything was introduced. People would tell their name and background. The increasing significance water scarcity in both Israel and the world was stressed by Professor Avi Shaviv. He is the director of the Grand water research institute at the Technion in Haifa. This is the place where practically all of the work is going to take place. And then finally that thing happened where most of us had been waiting for: the study cases got explained and the teams were being formed.

The four cases are briefly as follows:

1.       Cryptosporidum and Giardia in the Catchment Area of the Sea of Galilee (Mekorot) 
2.       Water Pipes Network for Reused Sewage and Wastewater (Water and Sanitation Corporation in Shfaram Area) 
3.       Atmospheric water extraction – passive & active (Technion) 
4.       Irrigation support for future forests (KKL-JNF)

After the cookies and coffee, as Johan likes to call it, the pressure cooker was heated up. The teams got together and had a short time to get acquainted with each other and with the case study.  Before we really felt ready for it the expert speed date sessions started. 7 expert with a wide variety in water background could be interviewed.  Since experts tend to know a lot, 10 minutes of talking per expert seemed way to short. But hé, that’s what a speed date is like.

Full with ideas and questions we went for a nice lunch. Some people don’t say you shouldn’t talk about work during your breaks, but we were too excited for that. After lunch we could clear up our minds a bit and restate our goals, decide how far we could go with thinking outside of the box (we were already thinking outside of the assignment). This part of the day was also a good opportunity to get to know your fellow team members a bit better.

We wrapped the day up (ended) with a small game together with all students. Each person would choose one of the many pictures that were put on the ground for the sake of this game. The picture was meant to be like a metaphor for your personality and your motivation to participate in Wetskills. Not very surprisingly any more everyone was given time to tell that story to the rest of the group. This was a nice and relaxed way to end the day, but more important to connect a bit better to persons outside of your team.