The fourth day of the Water for Food Youth Challenge: Pekalongan Edition featured dynamic training sessions led by esteemed experts designed to refine the teams’ ideas through professional knowledge exchange. Held at IPB University, Bogor, the day focused on structured learning activities to deepen participants’ understanding of a specific subject or topic on food security.
The morning began with a session by Erwin Hofman, Senior Project Manager and Environmental Specialist at Mott MacDonald Indonesia, who shared his expertise on “Sustainable Lowland Management”. He highlighted the current status and challenges of lowlands in Indonesia, international cooperation efforts, and macrozoning through governance. Participants gained insights into lowlands water management and conservation practices, enriched by shared challenges and success stories.
Next, Jan Verhagen, Senior Scientist on Agricultural Systems at Wageningen University and Research, presented on “Climate-Smart Agriculture”. Joining online, he provided an overview of climate change, particularly in coastal areas, laying the groundwork for his following discussion on climate-smart agricultural practices. He outlined the requirements for implementing such systems and explored alternative approaches, inspiring participants to consider innovative strategies.
The final session, “Water Treatment Technologies and the Food System”, was delivered by Tania Mubita Zambrano, Researcher and Knowledge Leader on Wet Streams Purification and Recovery at Wageningen Food and Biobased Research. Also joining online, Tania delved into the overview and sciences behind water treatment technologies, connecting them to food systems. She illustrated her points with compelling case studies from the Netherlands and Global South countries.
Beyond the training sessions, participants engaged in one-on-one mentoring with each of the experts and IPB University lecturers who joined in the session. This personalised guidance provided tailored feedback and suggestions, helping teams refine and strengthen their solution designs.
As the fourth day concluded, participants not only gained valuable global technical insights but also sharpened their problem-solving skills, preparing them to develop holistic water-food solution proposals.
Figure 7 and 8. Group photo with experts
