After many years of attending IWA events, my involvement at IWA’s 6th Water and Development Congress in Colombo, Sri Lanka  two weeks ago took a different turn.

Being part of the Organising Committee of the Emerging Water Leaders Forum and my new role as an advisor to the Congress rapporteurs, gave me the best view of how other Young Water Professionals were taking opportunities, building new skills and delivering tasks at the Congress.

Most of the rapporteurs were very young and relatively “new” to engaging with IWA and many had not volunteered at events of this scale. 24 people divided in 4 themes were reporting back the key lessons and take away messages from the five-day IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in December 2019.

This made me reflect on my personal IWA journey and my first time as a rapporteur at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2014. I remember the scale of the event being scary, and the task of being a rapporteur was not easy. Luckily I had some experience in volunteering before then.

Arlinda Ibrahimllari, the author, engaged at round table discussions at IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Everything started back in 2010, when I was employed by UKKO JSC, a mid-size Water Utility in Albania that gave me the opportunity to learn technical skills through working at the Wastewater treatment plant. However, I felt I was missing something professionally.

Perhaps, it was the lack of information for the water issues in my region or even globally, the feeling of being outside the loop of developments, and or lacking the skills to do better at my job, but undoubtedly, I was not exactly aware of this ‘missing factor’ at that time. It did not cause me to change my career as I loved “water”, but it pushed me to ask my manager to guide me to get more involved in the sector at the regional level.

Fortunately, I found an online announcement about the 2010 IWA Young Water Professionals (YWP) Conference in Moscow, Russia, published by Maryna Feierabend. The Conference focused on young water professionals, with a spotlight on oral and poster presentations on water issues. I knew very little about technical issues, since I had only two years of practical work experience after completing my undergraduate studies.

So I thought it could be wise to attend this Conference that had the branding of a well-known organisation like the IWA. I immediately contacted the main organiser and expressed my great wish to attend the event, only for me to receive the disappointing answer that the conference was only conducted in Russian language and that there was no simultaneous translation. Of course, this made my participation in that event impossible.

I really wanted to get involved in the activities of the water sector at the regional level and I felt IWA activities presented a good opportunity for that so I didn’t give up. During the following year, I contacted Maryna again several times. I was desperate for more information on the water sector and also wanted to make sure the next conference was organised in English, so I (and others) could participate.

A year passed quickly and the next event of the IWA Eastern European YWP Conference was announced to be in St. Petersburg, Russia, 2012, with simultaneous translation from Russian to English.

Immediately I approached the organisers with the interest to volunteer. And this volunteering experience – meeting and working with YWPs from different countries, backgrounds and with different perspectives – opened my mind to what was truly important and helped to bring connections and bridge knowledge gaps.

As a matter of fact, it helped me to get to know myself better. Despite feeling unsure about how others perceived me as “different” and experiencing some heart-wrenching situations, I had the opportunity to practice and develop soft skills, such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, project planning, task management, and furthermore exploring “networking”, practically.

This confirmed a saying by my Mentor- Philip Giantris that “Volunteering abroad changes how you see the world”. When I returned to Albania, I felt more comfortable and confident going about my responsibilities at my workplace.

Having that experience back in 2010, gave me the boost to apply for the first time in the World Water Congress in 2014 as Rapporteur.

YWP/emerging leaders at IWA Water Development Congress & Exhibition

In the just ended IWA Water and Development Congress in Colombo, I saw myself in some of the IWA YWP rapporteurs as they were really experiencing and developing a keener sense of self-awareness like the amazing transformation many volunteers’ experiences at such events.

It was quite a nice impression seeing them keep an eye on notes about the sessions, making sure that nothing went uncovered. Most of the data was stored directly in their notebooks, some kept handy notes and others used new giggle technologies such as recorders to play back and extract the key messages of the respective keynotes.

I am confident that the final congress report will be a great read and these young enthusiastic rapporteurs will go back home fulfilled and equipped with more skills that will help them rise to the top in their career.

.

As a young wastewater engineer at the Water Supply and Sewerage Company in Korça, the largest city in South-Eastern Albania, I was given my first real opportunity to develop my practical skills as well as the ability to provide solutions to safeguard the health and wellbeing of both people and the environment.

When I started, in 2009, Korça discharged its wastewater through five outfalls into agricultural drains, which were modified by farmers to use the raw sewage for irrigation. The raw sewage partially passed through the Turani water supply aquifer field, and contributed to the pollution of the aquifer. As you can imagine, the contaminated drinking water caused some serious cases of dysentery and diarrhea in Korça.

The necessity for aquifer protection, and need to safeguard public health, resulted in the development and implementation of a large-scale project that transformed the City’s sanitation.

Eight years later, and we are halfway through the International “Year of Wastewater”, intended to mobilise action on this critical sector. The “Year of Wastewater” has lifted wastewater management up the list of priorities, and led to renewed attention on finding solutions to ongoing challenges. Yet what is clear to me, is that it is essential we increase our efforts further if we want to ensure sustainable wastewater management, and not only in Albania.

This coming September marks the second anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 6.1 and 6.3 to provide universal access to adequate sanitation, and to halve the proportion of untreated wastewater being discharged into the natural environment. We have 13 years left to halve the proportion of untreated wastewater. In 2009, Albania discharged 75% of wastewater untreated into nature. Urgent action is needed. Wastewater may not be glamorous, but it is an important, exciting and challenging sector in which to work.

Luckily, water has been prioritized at the national level over the last decade, particularly during election periods. However, the allocation of capital investment funding has not been equal to the political promises. The capital investment that has been made has not been accompanied by proper investment in human resources or professional capacities to operate and maintain the infrastructure. The aging workforce, and lack of appropriately skilled professionals entering or staying in the sector, will become a critical constraint in addressing wastewater treatment needs in the coming years.

Achieving reliable and efficient services will require capacity building and institutional strengthening. The SDGs require a fast start up, with integrated thinking and collaborative action. They require multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral stakeholders to make it work. Emerging water leaders, those young people who grew up in this changing society, who are initiating multi-disciplinary groups, are well positioned to succeed in these aims.

However, to reach these wastewater targets, and to become a driving force behind the SDG Agenda, we must provide young water professionals with the skills and opportunities needed to reach their potential, support development, and contribute with their knowledge. This will ensure that these emerging water leaders are at the forefront of shaping the future they will inherit.

___________________________________________________________________________

The IWA International Young Water Professional Conference 2017 will be in Cape Town, South Africa from 10-13 December.

The event will brings together 450 water, environment and related young professionals from across the globe to showcase how young water professionals are making an impact across the sector.

IWA provides support and guidance to strengthen and support the Emerging Water Leaders programme through different mechanisms; and by equipping them with skills, knowledge and confidence in their abilities.