AquaFed joined EJWP as a knowledge partner, as the organization is providing support in hosting our EJWP3 group in their visit to the World Impact Summit in Bordeaux, France, in December. AquaFed is the International Federation of Private Water Operators, which represents private companies that deliver water supply or sanitation services under the direction of public authorities. The organization will also provide an upcoming project for our participants, as an EJWP client.
In this collaboration, we are pleased to introduce Neil Dhot, Executive Director of AquaFed, in a brief conversation in which he explains motivations of this collaboration: “Supporting young professionals is critical to the sector because they are the future protectors and saviours of the planet. So working with EJWP is a chance to help these future stars develop in their careers, and even more importantly, to learn from them now and their ideas of what needs to be done.
I was lucky enough to drop in on an online meeting of participants, and within a few seconds, I knew that the EJWP is an organization AquaFed should partner with. The enthusiasm, ideas and knowledge among the participants were incredible. It was clear that EJWP was coaching and mentoring people in the way I like. EJWP is clearly a place where talented people are supported to shine, take the lead and collaborate – not to be just told what to do. AquaFed will learn from this partnership: new ideas from the participants and how to further support an already highly talented and skilled group of people.
The pressure is on AquaFed to make our participation worthwhile, so the question is more what can the participants expect from us? We will do our best to help them fill any gaps in their knowledge about where the sector is going and broadly what needs to be done. For the project, we have really high hopes about the resourcefulness and creativity that participants will show on challenges of data collection, analysis and presentation. The project is a massive opportunity for us all to learn.”
