Calling Young Waterphiles

The upcoming Canadian Water Innovation Lab 2010 (October 21-24, near Calgary, Alberta) is an unconference for uncommon young leaders. It is designed to give 200 of Canada’s most water-passionate and proactive youth aged 18 to 30 the skills, insights, and connections to champion water management issues. Ultimately, CWIL’s mission is to develop leadership capacity, connect with the best of the industry, spur community water-related projects, and place water resource management issues prominently on the public agenda.

New and long-term pressures threaten our water resources but there are a lot of positive and successful solutions being found. There is a need for a safe space—spanning generations, sectors, and cultures—in which solutions can shared and expanded collaboratively.

Unlike standard conferences, participants will learn experientially through field trips and one-to-one interactions with business leaders, water resource practitioners, policy makers, activists, educators, and Aboriginal and community leaders. Participants will learn from companies such as Filterboxx, Suncor, Cenovus, Devon, and Epcor about staying innovative and environmentally relevant. It is at CWIL where the next generation of decision-makers will learn about where the possibilities for innovations and improvements in water management within industry lie.  Participants will examine how we value water and think about what Canada’s current and emerging role in the global market for water should be.

In addition to being a CWIL facilitator, Elizabeth Hendriks is the water governance and policy coordinator for the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance. For more information on this exciting event, click here or follow the event on Twitter. Watch the Water Canada blog for further reports and updates.