The IWA has provided me with many development opportunities to date. The first ever conference I presented at was the IWA UK Young Water Professional Conference in 2017. I was fortunate to receive the prize of “Best Presenter 2017”, the prize for which being an opportunity to present at the IWA YWP Eastern European Conference 2018 in Zagreb, my first international presentation. I was so impressed with the focused specialism of the event, as well as the opportunities it gave me as a young water professional, that I decided that the IWA is an organisation I should be a part of. I have used this membership since for a multitude of opportunities, from improving my mental resilience to helping the environment through beach cleans.
I first began volunteering with the IWA in 2018, helping to organise two IWA UK Online Twitter Competitions for the IWA UK Young Water Professional Conference. I formally joined the IWA UK Committee in 2020, with the intention of helping the IWA UK help to build on its online presence. During the ongoing pandemic, social media was of increasing importance to help connect people. I was so happy it worked well and that we were able to work together to give researchers the opportunity to share their work, despite the ongoing pandemic. I was also heavily involved with the Water Industry Film Shorts competition. This video competition aimed to build awareness about the challenges facing the world’s water systems ahead of COP26, tell water stories, help propel the water industry into the digital age, and show how the research community drives us towards solutions. The finalist’s video were shown in an award ceremony, which I co-hosted, at the 2021 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition. I also Chaired the IWA YWP UK Conference 2022, recruiting a group of 15 volunteers who I led to organise the conference, held in South Wales.
I obtained a bursary to attend 2022 IWA World Water Congress
& Exhibition in Denmark, through the first physical World Water Camp, a
unique opportunity for students with an interest in current water challenges to
meet and network with other students from around the globe in a strong learning
community. This “conference within a conference” opportunity selected 50
students from around the globe to participate in lectures, field trips and extracurricular
tasks during the congress, as well as a three month online course around the conference.
At the camp, I was grateful to win a prize for Best Engagement. I was also fortunate
to be selected to attend 2024 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in Canada,
through World Water Camp. This was a global opportunity for young water
professionals aged 35 and under to build an international network among
students sharing an interest in future water and to obtain an international
perspective on water themes and the needs of different water stakeholders. I
was also only able to travel to attend the camp and the 2024 IWA World Water
Congress & Exhibition in Toronto, Canada, due to my kindness of the IWA UK, my position of Chair of
the IWA YWP UK and the voluntary efforts I have put into IWA over the last 6
years.
I became Chair of the IWA YWP UK in 2024 and was elected to become Global YWP Chapter Coordinator of the IWA Young Water Professionals Steering Committee 2024-2026. Through these roles I plan to enhance the integration of young people at the 2026 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in Glasgow. To achieve this aim, I have written and refined a Terms of Reference for IWA YWP UK and will be holding interviews to recruit for YWP to join this committee. With this new committee, I intend to run my own World Water Camp, to sponsor and enable future young water professionals to attend the Glasgow IWA World Congress, as I myself have benefitted from this programme.
