By Msilikale Msilanga

Young people develop the most robust skills when they engage in hands-on work on real-world problems. Resilience Academy organized another visualization challenge for 2025 as part of ProWA-SASA project, collaborating with partners like GIZ and ProWAS SASA Partners from Mwanza and Tanga cities. This initiative provided university students and recent graduates with an opportunity to gain practical experience in geospatial analysis and develop geovisualization solutions while addressing actual urban water and climate challenges. In 2025, 85 students and alumni from universities such as UDSM, ARU, SUA, ARUSHA TECH, and SUZA participated in this program. They learned and applied various geospatial datasets, open-source tools, and technology to create geovisualization solutions for Tanga and Mwanza cities. Additionally, they acquired entrepreneurial skills by understanding how their developed solutions could be advanced into startup projects.

These opportunities enable young students and alumni to acquire the necessary practical, technical, and professional skills to transform classroom knowledge into tangible impact. By working with real data, real users, and real city challenges, they build confidence in problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and innovation. These skills prepare them for employment, research, and the development of their ideas into sustainable solutions, including potential startup projects.

The data visualization challenge concluded yesterday with group competitors presenting their final pitches to the judges. The judges evaluated each team’s work based on the clarity of the problem definition, the quality of data usage, the strength of the visualization design, the functionality of the prototype, and the overall feasibility and sustainability of the proposed solution. This event marked a significant milestone for the participants, showcasing not only their technical progress but also their ability to communicate real-world value and propose solutions that can support decision-making for urban water and climate resilience in Mwanza and Tanga.

Here is the more information about Resilience Academy Data Visualization Challenge 2025