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conference reports YWPS@ASPIRE 2007
ASPIRE Report by Des Boland It was a very cold Sunday morning in Perth. The city was still alive and the Perth Co nvention and Exhibition Centre was just opening. The catering staff were polishing the tea spoons and preparing the coffee cups to be ready fo r the start of this major international AWA/IWA event, ASPIRE 2007. On this Sunday morning, a group of young (and young at heart) water professionals gathered together for the IWA YWP workshop , the firs t event of the ASPIRE conference. A group of about fifty participants came to hear words of wisdom from several keynote speakers who work in various sectors of the water industry, representing many different pares of the Asia Pacific Region. The programme was organised by Michael Storey (IWA YWP C hair and A WA NSW YWP Comm ittee Member) from Sydney, and Adrian Puigarnau (IWA Programmes Officer), who flew in from London. T he day started with a networking session designed to allow all the attendees to meet professionals from Perth and other parts of the world.
Meeting tomorrow's challenges was the first theme of the day. All the speakers emphasised how important a role the next generation of professionals will play in the water industry. With an increasingly drying
climate and a d ramatic increase in the world's population, drinking water sources are being placed under increasing stress. In an environment under pressure, the next generation of water professionals must be the ones to come up with the innovations needed to meet the challenges facing water supplies in the future. It is extremely important that the water industry recognises the need to engage all those talented individ uals who want to step up and make a difference. Mr Geoff Syme, CSIRO, reminded us to consider the so cial impacts of water supply and waste water management. Community and institutional issues are just as important as the physical aspects of water management. As water providers need to secure a sustainable water supply, they need to implement measures such as desalination and recycled water. Co mmunity engagemen t and trust is becoming ever more important. H e also mentioned that communities with well managed water resources will be those most resilient to change in the future. Mr Syme fini shed his talk with a question: Will the next world war be fought over water resources? Prof. Norihito T ambo from Hokkaido University in J apan illustrated the impact of population and economic growth on worldwide water usage. The rapid population growth in developing countries and economic boom in developed countries over the last 50 yea rs, together with global warming, has had an extreme impact on water availabili ty. Food crop demand is stretching water resources to a level where, if water management is not sustainable, it will deplete all water resources.
Adrian Puigarnau (IWA Programmes Officer) A Career in Water? The afternoon session started with presentations on the different career opportunities available in the water sector. The session included representatives from consultancy, nonprofit NGOs, industry, government, academia and utilities. Each were asked to outline what YWPs could expect from a career in their field, the type of work that YWPs cou ld potentially do and also possible career advantages. After the presentations, there were breakout groups where participants were able to engage in discussions with each of the presenters, to find out more about the different areas of the water industry they were interested in. The final sessio n of the day was foc ussed on the activities of the YWPs in the ASPIRE region, through both IWA and AWA. Darryl Day again highlighted how im portant these types of days are for the professional development of YWPs.
AUSTRALIAN WATER ASSOCIATION NATIONAL EVENT CALENDAR 2007 & 2008 Accurate at time of printing. For branch events, please visit the AWA website www.awa.asn.au and/or check with your local branch contact for up to date information.
Event
Location
Contact
Phone
4-6 Feb 08
AWA-IWA Young Water Professionals Conference
Brisbane, QLD
Sandra Hall
07 3346 7209
27-28 Feb 08
Accounting for Carbon in the Water Industry
Sydney NSW
Diane Wiesner
02 9495 9906
30 Mar - 2 Apr 08 Water Efficiency 2008
Surfers Paradise QLD
Linda Phillips
02 9495 9914
30 Mar - 2 Apr 08 3n1 National Water Education Conference
Surfers Paradise QLD
Corinne Cheeseman 02 9495 9907
30 Mar - 2 Apr 08 I National WICD Conference
Surfers Paradise QLD
Stephanie Seddon
02 9495 9918
5- 7 May 08
Enviro Convention & Exhibition
Melbourne, VIC
Wayne Casde
02 9495 9921
March 2009
Ozwater 09
Melbourne, VIC
Wayne Casde
02 9495 9921
Date January 2008
st
20 DECEMBER 2007
Water
Journal of the Australian Water Association