Early Career and Young Professionals Task Force

Explore IWRA's dedicated initiative, the Early Career and Young Professionals Task Force. Its mission is to actively contribute to IWRA's projects, amplify the voices of emerging professionals, and engage in collaborative initiatives with IWRA and its partners.

Context

Early career and young professionals constitute a large portion of the IWRA membership, who bring great value to the Association. They are vibrant community of water experts and potential future leaders in the sector. Due to the significant role young and early career members can play within IWRA, while accelerating their career development and broadening their professional networks, a new task force dedicated to Early Career and Young Professionals (ECYP) was established.

- Better understand the needs and interests of Early Career and Young Professionals
- Target and engage ECYP members in topics and activities through multiple media forms
- Provide opportunities for knowledge exchange, learning and networking
- Create a stronger ECYP voice through cross-cutting activities and initiatives with other key IWRA partners
- Increase ECYPs engagement in IWRA projects
- Rewa Assi (Chair)
- Bassel Daher
- Rasha Hassan (Outreach and Engagement WG Lead)
- Liudmyla Odud (Social Media WG Lead)
- Amrisha Pandey (Webinar Series WG Lead)
- Nur Azizah Affandy
- Lindsey Aldaco Manner
- Oscar Alvarado
- Karishma Asoodani
- Heather Bond
- Khadija Boussen
- Alice Colson
- Syeda Saleha Fatim Ali
- Deepesh Jain
- Michel Frem
- Hagira Gelo
- Awol Kedir Jewaro
- Georgina Mukwirimba
- Francisca Olavarría
- Pallavi Pokharel
- Tayyaba Suhail
- Denzel Urieta
- Nicole Webley

12-month Planned Activities

Establish a social media campaign focused on highlighting IWRA early career and young professional (ECYP) members
Host a webinar series focused on topics of importance to ECYPs
Host a Global Networking Café focused on building network among water professionals through interactive discussions
Host podcast series focused on engaging the wider audience with water related topics
Establish an online engagement space focused on sharing latest news and opportunities of interest to the Early Career and Young Professional (ECYP) network
Create Storytelling series focused on highlighting indigenous knowledge
Establish partnerships with international young water professional organisations
Develop a plan for engaging ECYPs in IWRA’s upcoming Congress and other major activities in 2022 and 2023
Increase membership and engagement of ECYPs in overall IWRA activities

Working Groups

The ECYP Task Force is conformed of a Bureau and four Working Groups (WG). While the bureau focuses on the strategic vision and overall progress of the task force, each of the working groups has a list of specific objectives and anticipated outcomes within the coming 12-month period. The WG include the following:

Social Media

The Social Media Working Group focuses on increasing the engagement and visibility of ECYP members within IWRA through online initiatives, including interactive materials, etc.

Webinar Series

The Webinar Series Working Group provides opportunities for members to showcase their research/ work, network with other experts in their field, promote and share knowledge, etc. These working groups aim to organise and produce stimulating webinar events, which are well attended and meaningful to the entire IWRA Community.

Outreach and Engagement

The Outreach and Engagement Working Group leads different engagement activities for IWRA members, including “Casual Water Coffee Breaks” and surveys to identify ways in which this task force can better serve ECYP members. It will also identify partnership opportunities with other water youth organisations.

WaterSpeaks

The WaterSpeaks Working Group provides a space for sharing global water knowledge and stories through live podcasts and dynamic discussions on @WaterSpeaksIWRA Twitter Space

News

• ECYP celebrated World Water Day 2022 in its first WaterSpeaks dialogue session!

• ECYP celebrated Earth Day 2022 in its Global Networking Café in collaboration with Waterlution and UNESCO’s Groundwater Youth Network! The Global Networking Café brought together water professionals from across the globe

• Read our IWRA 50th Anniversary Special Issue: “Reflecting on water challenges of the past, present, and future: An Intergenerational Perspective“.