The USC Departments of Civil Engineering, Anthropology, Sociology and History, and Political Science, Office of the External Relations and Internationalization, together with the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (RUAS), and Hanze University of Applied Sciences (HUAS), with the participation of Cebu Leads Foundation, successfully organized the 6th Metro Cebu River Scan Challenge from April 15 to April 26, 2024.
The event involved several collaborators and partners from the Local Government Units (LGUs) of the cities of Cebu and Mandaue, their respective Environment and Natural Resources departments (CCENRO, MCENRO), the Environmental Management Bureau Regional Office VII, the Department of Public Works and Highways Regional Office VII, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD), Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water Foundation (CUSW), Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE), and the Shangri-La Hotel and Resort.
The two-week event was a pressure-cooker type of activity with around 210 Filipino student-participants coming from the three departments and 21 Dutch students. The students were grouped into 12 teams and each group was assigned to 12 different stations along the Butuanon River to conduct a community walk and a community meeting. The Cebu City barangays visited by the teams were Barangays Pulangbato, San Jose, and Bacayan. The teams also visited Barangays Tingub, Tabok, Paknaan, and Alang-Alang in Mandaue City.
As opposed to the past five River Scan Challenges which centered on measuring the degree of river pollution and pinpointing its sources, this year’s river scan challenge focused on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11, which is on making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
Knowing that people still reside near the forbidden three-meter easement zones of the Butuanon River, they are the ones most vulnerable to flash floods, diseases, and heat waves.
The 12 teams immersed themselves in these communities and investigated the identification of the root cause of the problems experienced by the residents living near the river and thought of feasible, innovative, and low-technology solutions with the community through a community meeting.
The River Scan Challenge consists of a series of lectures by the professors from USC, RUAS and HUAS, and from its partner LGUs and NGOs, a two-day fieldwork to the different stations along the Butuanon River during the first week, consultation of their draft proposals to solve the identified problems with the local and international experts, and finally a culminating program.
The speakers who graced the lecture sessions were Kay G. Espinosa (DENR Environmental Bureau Management), Engr. Faustino dela Cruz (DPWH Regional Office), Reymarr Hijarra (Head, CCENRO), Engr. Myka Llanos (CCENRO), Ar. Araceli Barlam (Head, MCENRO), Jovelyn Dotillos (MCENRO), Engr. Aure Flo Oraya (PICE National Director), Engr. Emmanuel Espina (MCWD), Ar. Soccoro Atega (CUSW), Prof. Eric Boer and Prof. Floris Boogaard (HUAS), Prof. Rick Heikoop (RUAS), Engr. Janice Jamora (Chair, USC Department of Civil Engineering), Engr. Kathrina Borgonia (Assistant Chair, USC Department of Civil Engineering), Fr. Romeo Cagatin, SVD, Fr. Francisco Antonio T. Estepa, SVD (USC President), and Brenette Abrenica (Director, External Relations and Internationalization Office).
The culminating activity of River Scan Challenge 2024 took place on April 25, 2024 at the Michael Richartz Conference Hall. It consisted of a gallery presentation in the morning, where each of the teams pitched their solutions and presented their story videos and posters to the first batch of jurors.
After the gallery presentation, the top four team finalists were selected. The finalists then pitched their solutions one last time to a selected set of jurors coming from various stakeholders including representatives from LGUs, NGOs, and the communities. The top four finalists were Teams 4, 5, 6 and 10.
After the deliberation, Team 4, or the Water Warriors team, was the overall winner of the poster and pitch competition. They bagged the Best in Video, Best in Pitch, and Best in Poster awards.
The said team proposed the Movabins, a simple piece of equipment made of a cylindrical dumpster with two wheels and a handle that can be used to move solid waste even on very narrow roads. It addresses the problem of solid waste collection for those people with houses that are located far from the garbage collection point.
Because of the distance, people admitted to throwing their waste directly to the nearby river. The proposed solution was straightforward, low-technology, and feasible. It was received positively by the jurors.
The members of Team 4 (see photo above, used with permission) were Ischa Meer van Der, Jager Sven, Rod Michael Aquino, Lisandra Jane Dumas, Zyxel Avila, Norma Amit, Judd Sydney Gonzales, Ritche Milliard Sacmar, Jerald Caballero, Uriel Capondag, Taneza Mae Bontilao, Denzel Montuya, Alezandra Zey Mahinay, Kiara Lee Jadulco, Dby Kastel Saco, Stacey Karel Cang, Ira Benedict Bebita, Jennifer Elizabeth Robb, Lucky N Roda, Nathan Jon Russell, Karl Josef Son, Oscar Francis Tan, Mary Trixie Villamor, and Sheena Dirkinova Ala.
by Engr. Kathrina Marie Borgonia, Department of Civil Engineering