The students, divided into ten teams, worked on topics presented at the beginning of the Hackathon by experts on water management issues. Among the topics were, for example, the retention of water in the landscape, the contamination of water with pesticides and pharmaceuticals, or the solution of waste water as part of a sustainably solved festival.

“Water means life and I believe you see it the same way. You are here to put your heads together and come up with creative solutions to help meet current and future challenges. Both people and nature need water, that’s why the South Moravian Region supports projects that retain water in the landscape,” said Deputy Governor of the South Moravian Region Lukáš Dubec at the opening. The event was also opened by the director of Lipka Hana Korvasová, Milada Šťastná from the Institute of Applied and Landscape Ecology AF MENDELU and Martin Klimánek, vice-rector of the Mendel University in Brno for strategy, sustainability and targeted activities. He reminded that Mendel University is celebrating 105 years since its foundation this year, and the issue of water is being addressed across all faculties. At the same time, he noted that the scientists at MENDELU are open to the management of Students` Professional Activities (SPA).

Each of the ten student teams was led by two team leaders. The team had a day and a half to consult the chosen problem. Subsequently, the students presented the problem and its solution in a brief three-minute presentation. The ideas were then discussed with the students by members of the expert jury, which included, for example, Deputy Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands David Röling, Head of Marketing of the South Moravian Innovation Center Michal Veselý or Miroslav Novák from the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic. The topics chosen by the student teams included the safety of dams, the positive use of flood water or the sharing of water between the city and the countryside.