URGENSEA Challenge

Plastic pollution in our rivers on one side, as well as the unceasing erosion of our coasts on the other, represent monumental and increasing threats both on our health and on our coasts’ wealth. Young engineers and environmental enthusiasts have an edifying role to play in identifying, developing, and deploying solutions.

With a prize allocation of € 100,000, URGENSEA is the 1st edition of a responsible engineering competition organised by the Andurand Foundation. Well beyond a traditional challenge, URGENSEA acts as an accelerator, mobilising its knowledge and networks to help the participating teams maximise their input and impact. The 2-year challenge is open to engineering university students from five European countries, including France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and focuses on 2 major issues: River Pollution and Coastal Erosion.

The aim of the initiative led by the Andurand Foundation is to encourage bright minds to collaborate, in teams and between teams, across several countries, to accelerate the identification and development of practical solutions to the problems of plastic pollution, as well as solutions to protect our coastlines and coastal communities from from the never ending threats of sea level rise and intensifying erosion.

How to take part in the URGENSEA 2024 - 2025 Challenge ?

⬢ Teams of between 5 and 10 students, from 1st year undergraduate to doctoral students included.

⬢ Any participating team may include at least one academic advisor (Professor), whose mentoring role is important, but who does not count as a member of the team

⬢ Each team must designate one student as Team Leader (or two co-Team Leaders).

⬢ A team may be made up of students from the same institution or of students from different institutions, but also of students from several countries.

⬢ Each participating team can either carry the name of the academic institution it represents or could indicate any name under which it wishes to compete.