A Conference for Young Leaders, by Young Leaders
The International Young Water Professionals Conference
IWA aims to empower young talent, like yourselves, to contribute to delivering the solutions for sustainable water management (IWA Vision). This conference is one of the vehicles in which we support young water professionals to develop themselves to be at the forefront of decision making.
Besides a must attend event for career progression, you will have fun networking and building friendships with your passionate peers. Through the offering of technical paper sessions, topical workshops, soft skill learning sessions, networking opportunities and a career fair, the IYWPC will be the “Must Attend” event for young water professionals (YWPs), especially for those wishing to develop their career and progress further into the water sector.
Joint Organising Committee
Making Decisions
- Farnaz Daynouri Pancino, YWP Canada
- Joao Grilo, IWA
- Kirsten de Vette, IWA
- Caterina Marinetti, IWA
- Robert Haller, CWWA
- Siva Sarathy, YWP Canada
Local Organising Committee
The Local Organising Committee – all young water professionals – are responsible for the event experience. They manage everything related to conference management, including the conference planning, the budget (with JOC approving all costs), the venue and catering, the social events, the career fair, the technical tours and other logistics
- Siva Sarathy (Joint Organising Committee – JOC and Treasurer)
- Farnaz Daynouri Pancino (Conference Chair and JOC)
- Tasnim Amerian (Venue lead)
- Alexander Imbault (Venue lead)
- Bernardo Vazquez (Communications lead)
- Nadia Koukoui (Communications lead)
- Mehdi Bazri (Treasurer)
- Malini Ghosh (Events Lead)
- Roberta Maffettone (Events Lead)
- Stephanie Gora (Social Lead)
- Chris Degroot (Programme Chair)
- Elena Torfs (Programme committee)
- Pankaj Chowdhury (Programme committee)
- Hayat Raza (Local Programme committee)
- Francesca Giaccherini (Career Fair Lead)
- Medhavi Gupta (Career Fair Lead)
Advisory Committee
Inter-generational learning
- Patricia Bakir – Jordan
- Joan Rose – USA
- Jo Burgess – South Africa
- Xiaochang Wang – China
- Gustaf Olsson – Sweden
- Arash Zamyadi – Canada
- How Yong Ng – Singapore
- Krishna Pagilla- USA
- Peter Vanrolleghem – Canada
- Zoran Kapelan – UK
- Günter Langergraber – Austria
Programme Committee
The Programme Committee – all young water professionals – is responsible for the content of the conference and ensuring that the high standard of previous IYWPCs is maintained and meets the needs of the international water sector. They decide the balance between technical sessions, workshops, learning sessions and networking events. As part of the conference programme, the keynote speakers and their topics will be decided by the Programme Committee.
- Chris Degroot – Canada (chair)
- Arlinda Ibrahimllari – Albania
- Elena Torfs – Canada
- Federica Brenner – Argentina
- Loga Veeraiah – Malaysia
- Muriel Dumit – USA
- Niels Mamose Askjaer – Denmark
- Pabel Cervantes – Mexico
- Pankaj Chowdhury – Canada
- Xiaoyuan Zhang – China
The goal of the IWA International Young Water Professional Conference (IYWPC) is to provide tangible support to the empowerment of young talent in the water sector by connecting, developing and recognising emerging talent. The conference will provide a unique combination of programmatic content that will appeal to young academics, early career- as well as advancing water professionals from all disciplines and all types of organisations.
The 9th edition of this accessible and affordable conference for young professionals, starting and or working to develop a water career, is organised by and for young water professionals (YWPs), it will:
- Provide a platform to exchange good practices and lessons learned, generate inter-disciplinary and inter-generational dialogue
- Provide a platform for YWPs to network nationally, regionally and internationally
- Provide ample professional updating and learning activities for YWPs from all disciplines and organisations (eg. Pre-conference support for Academic authors, workshop organisers, and attendees and onsite skill development Sessions).
- Providing connections to the water sector (i.e. industry, research, government and NGOs) through developing career fairs
Overview
The 2017 edition offered:
- A technical programme with technical sessions, 2 minute thesis sessions, workshop and learning sessions and a career fair.
- Networking events (preconference and onsite)
- Technical Tours
- Preconference webinars
All will contribute to the professional development for our future water leaders. The IYWPC encourages multidisciplinary sharing and learning.
Learn more about the organisers

International Water Association
Water underpins every aspect of human and environmental existence. The severe water challenges facing the world today require an unprecedented global response. IWA members and staff are situated in 130 countries worldwide, forming the largest international network of water professionals working towards a water wise world. For Further Information: http://www.iwa-network.org/

Canadian Young Water Professionals
The Canadian Young Water Professionals (YWP Canada) is focused on bringing people working in or interested in the water sector together in a meaningful way. YWP Canada is a network of people who are passionate about all aspects of water.

Canadian Water and Wastewater Association
CWWA is a non-profit national body representing the common interests of Canada’s public sector municipal water and wastewater services and their private sector suppliers and partners. CWWA is recognized by the federal government and national bodies as the national voice of this public service sector. For Further Information visit CWWA

Canadian Water Quality Association
Founded in 1956, the Canadian Water Quality Association (CWQA) is the voice of Canada’s residential, commercial, industrial and institutional water treatment industry. Our industry is a vital and growing part of Canada’s economy in communities across the country. For Further Information visit CWQA
Did you know
These conferences are run with the aim to provide an affordable and accessible platform for professional development and learning for young professionals in the water sector. The conferences are organised voluntarily by young water professionals for young water professionals. These young water professionals gain skills – organising, communication, sponsorship, project management, etc. – and build new professional relationships in the process.