Leading up to the finals, Singapore held its national challenge – the Singapore National STEM Eco Challenge 2015 – on 28 February. Catholic High School beat over 30 other teams from local secondary schools to emerge the winner and will represent Singapore at the grand finals.
The UNEP-DHI Eco Challenge is an online serious games competition that aims to raise awareness about sustainable water resources management. This year, the event is played on a tailored version customised to highlight Singapore’s struggles and success in water management and the project is supported by the SG50 Celebration Fund, as part of Singapore’s 50 years anniversary celebration.
Together with UNEP-DHI, we developed a unique version of the game with scenarios that simulated Singapore’s water-related issues where players can experiment and come up with solutions to address these challenges. This unique version will be played by more than 1000 teams across all participating countries at the end of the event in April.
Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan who was at the Singapore finals, said technological developments will be the key to unlocking solutions to Singapore’s challenges. He notes, ‘The point is as Singapore confronts other challenges, the solutions will lie in technology, in being able to innovate that technology to create a solution, to unlock boundaries and to open new potential so what you have embarked on this morning and for the teams who are going beyond, is a crucial part of Singapore's development strategy.’ (Source: Channel News Asia)
About Aqua Republica
Aqua Republica is a DHI and UNEP-DHI project that focuses on promoting sustainable water resources management. The core version is a framework of game features and modules that can be assembled into various unique versions depending on specific needs and focus. A unique version could mean a change of numerical model data, game landscape, events and learning goals to simulate different scenarios in water resources management.
Find out more about how we can support you in promoting sustainable water management.