Recently, students joined forces with professional watersports athletes and stepped up as Dutch Wavemakers (DWM). Together they create an international network for realizing the shared mission of the DWM and the Topsector Water. A summary in Dutch below (samenvatting in Nederlands onderaan).

Together, they can reach the young generations, create water awareness and make this generation enthusiastic for water related themes. Themes such as urbanization of delta’s, climate change, water quality and energy transition are addressed. This is essential because the necessity for more golden hands and big brains in the engineering and water sector is growing. Only together we can reach the SDG’s and live in a water safe way.

“Create international water awareness and make the younger generations enthusiastic about water related themes”

The famous Volvo Ocean Race is the first big international event where the DWM reach out to the younger generations. The DWM recently visited the Volvo Ocean Race stop-over in Cape Town (South Africa). They enabled young children and students to do all kinds of water experiments that ignited the curiosity about the science behind the experiments. The experiments even drew the curiosity of ex- pro-soccer players Johan Neeskens, Pierre van Hooijdonk and Anouk Hoogendijk. Everyone was encouraged to keep asking themselves two important questions, ‘What do I see that is happening?’ and ‘Why is this happening?’. Although it sometimes seemed to be magic, it always turned out to be science!

Besides the experiments at the Waterfront and at high schools, the DWM also organized a Pressure Cooker session with students and professionals from South-Africa, The Netherlands, Germany and Norway. The discussions covered safe and sufficient water. Abby Ehler (team member Brunel), Graham van Niekerk (Wetskills) and Hans Huis in ‘t Veld (Topsector Water) also joined in. The participants were even allowed to go on the racing boat of Akzo Nobel at the end of the Pressure Cooker.

International events are the perfect platform for DWM. The DWM are supported by foundation Zeeland Sport and Leisure (ZSL). The network of ZSL and their partners is capable to make robust connections around the Volvo Ocean Race 2017–2018, De Scheldebeker 2019 and the Olympic Games of 2020 in Japan. By involving the road to these events in the mission of the DWM, a 4-year program is created. This period will create a strong foundation for the long term International Water Ambition of The Netherlands and to make the ambition known to stakeholders.

The next video gives you a brief overview of the DWM’s activities in Cape Town. Soon, the DWM will visit Hong Kong to reach more students and make more waves!

Samenvatting in Nederlands: Jonge Nederlandwatersporttalenten en studenten zetten zich in voor schoon, veilig en voldoende water. Als ‘Dutch Wavemakers’ (DWM) delen ze in binnen- en buitenland bij internationale evenementen hun verhalen over water met jongere generaties. Met hun acties willen ze het bewustzijn over water vergroten. De ambassadeurs van DWM organiseerden een uitdagend activiteitenprogramma rond de Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Kaapstad, waarmee zij het belang van schoon water onder de aandacht brachten van een jong, internationaal publiek. Dutch Wavemakers is een initatief van het platform Ons Water en wordt ondersteund door Stichting Zeeland Sport and Leisure.

More updates and information:

Mission of the Dutch Wavemakers was originally published in Water, wereldwerk! on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.