Time for Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2020

Every year since 1997, Stockholm Junior Water Prize is held to encourage school projects that seek to solve major water challenges. The winning teams of national competitions meet in the international finals, usually held during World Water Week, last week of August. In 2020, the winner will be announced by H.R.H Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, on 25 August, at 2pm CET. The awards ceremony will be held online under WWWeek At Home, the digital sessions that are organized between 24 and 28 August.

Ania Andersch, Senior Manager Stockholm Junior Water Prize at SIWI, is pleased that most countries – 29 out of 38 – have managed to organize national competitions despite the coronavirus outbreak. “Some countries competed early in the year; others managed to do so digitally. The Stockholm Junior Water Prize final will also take place online,” she explains.

Already now, all the competing projects can be found on the Prize’s own WaterTank platform, where everyone can read the project descriptions and watch the participants’ own videos where they describe their innovations. Ania Andersch encourages everyone to take the chance to learn about the students’ work and to vote for the People’s Choice Award.

“I am very impressed by the finalists! These are some very bright young minds and we know from experience that their innovations can solve real-world problems. Many projects that started as part of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize are now being used, helping thousands of people in different parts of the world,” Ania Andersch says.

She hopes that people in the international water and development community vote in the People’s Choice Award, both to support these budding young scientists, and to find new talents and creative solutions.

At the same time, the jury of international water experts will of course be hard at work to evaluate all the projects and hold interviews with participants. The connection with the scientific community is very important and the participants will also be invited by KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm for a digital visit to the school to meet scientists and learn about how innovations can become business ideas. KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm is a partner of Stockholm Junior Water Prize, together with Xylem Inc, which will also organize activities for the students.

On 25 August at 2pm CET, the winner of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2020 will be announced by H.R.H Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the official Patron of the Prize. The festive Prize ceremony will be broadcast online so that everyone can be part of the fun and excitement.

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