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Auckland Council says the future of climate resilience depends as much on people’s creativity as it does on stronger pipes and drains, and a new student innovation challenge has shown what that creativity can deliver.
Solve It 2025, hosted by the University of Auckland in partnership with Eden Park and AA Insurance, was held last month at the university’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The week-long challenge brought together students from across the city to rethink how Auckland could prepare for future floods.
The question was simple but urgent: how would you stay ahead of the next flood?
An Auckland Council spokesperson said “the answers were anything but ordinary and instead of the usual “grey infrastructure” fixes, teams came up with ideas ranging from virtual reality flood simulations for community centres, helping families visualise what might happen to their homes, to floating platforms designed to keep cars safe during flash floods.”
Auckland Council supported the challenge through mentoring, with Senior Flood Risk Specialist Nancy Baines serving as the programme’s only external mentor.
“We need more of these youth-driven solutions if we’re to achieve meaningful change,” she says. “What I saw was a generation ready to tackle climate change head-on.”
The challenge gave participants the freedom to combine science with imagination. Supported by Council tools such as the Flood Viewer, students quickly developed an understanding of Auckland’s stormwater challenges and how to think differently about them.
The winning group, Team Fireant, proposed high-performance soil mixes for road verges in flood-prone areas, enhanced with IoT sensors to monitor saturation levels. Their concept also included a kerb redesign with a traffic-light-style warning system to help communities act together when water levels rise.
“It was a big dream solution,” Baines says. “It may face technical barriers, but what inspired me was that it wasn’t just about soil, it was about giving communities the information they need to respond as one.”
Participant Himani Nishi says the experience changed her approach to problem-solving.
“At first, I thought I already had the solution,” she says.
“But I learned how important it is to understand what people are really experiencing, not just what you think they need.”
In the end, organisers say Solve It 2025 was about more than flood resilience, it was about equipping young people with the skills, empathy and urgency needed to confront climate change.
