Meaningful youth engagement: key to a sustainable and water-inclusive future

With a vision to fully integrate youth values, initiatives and ideas into water governance and management, the Valuing Water Initiative (VWI) and its Valuing Water Youth Journey contribute to water and climate resilience and sustainability.
“The Valuing Water Initiative recognises the important role that young people can and should play in shaping how water is governed and managed. This Youth Journey seeks to tackle the obstacles to meaningful youth engagement and catalyse youth action on water.” Joe Ray, Senior Advisor at VWI.

Intergenerational diversity and inclusivity

With our partners, there is a strong recognition of the role young professionals play for a sustainable water future. At KWR, this is particularly important for generating knowledge through research. KWR sees intergenerational diversity and inclusivity as strategic priorities. The intergenerational narrative is seen as fundamental to the process of bringing about systemic change needed to break down the barriers young people experience when wanting to engage in water and climate dialogues and actions. By joining this initiative, KWR demonstrates its commitment to youth engagement and empowerment in the transition to a more resilient and future-proof society and water-inclusive future. Hosting the recent Networking Day for young professionals in drinking water was another example of KWR’s commitment.

Young professionals in drinking water gathered at KWR on July 7 to discuss the future of drinking water

KWR’s work in the Valuing Water Youth Journey includes:

• Leveraging our global network to promote Valuing Water Youth Journey actions and results.
• Identifying and engaging relevant partners to champion and drive systemic change through the Valuing Water Youth Journey actions and results.
• Expanding the initiative’s reach to the broader water research and knowledge community.
• Contributing with the experiences, lessons learned and know-how from within KWR and from international partners on meaningful youth engagement.

Focus

The collaboration will focus on three key outcomes:

1. Youth are better equipped to understand and take action on water-related risks in a changing climate, with a broader range of opportunities being created to match their skills.

Activities will include the implementation of programmes to equip young people with practical and technical knowledge and skills to strengthen their participation and collaboration with institutions responsible for water governance and management.
“Inclusive planning of career pathways for young people in water will make for a diverse and transversal future workforce in the sector. As part of the Youth Journey, we will engage young people and water institutions to shape what this looks like”. Neil Dhot, Executive Director of Aquafed.

2. Local youth actions to address water-related challenges in a changing climate are formally recognised and implemented as part of official planning and program delivery.

Activities will include supporting young people in implementing local initiatives, convening youth advocacy groups and integrating young people in the roll-out of water projects.
“Young people have the potential to become agents of change in their communities by taking action to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change. Through our work under the youth journey, we plan to support young people to implement local water and climate initiatives and advocate for change”. Sanne Hogesteeger, Programme Coordinator, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.
“Young people have the potential to become agents of change in their communities by taking action to adapt to the effects of climate change. Through our work under the youth journey, we plan to implement sustainable approaches that will enable young people to implement local water and climate initiatives and advocate for change”. Sanne Hogesteeger, Programme Coordinator, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.

3. Youth contribution to local, regional and global water governance and management-related dialogues is the norm, not the exception.

Activities will include the creation of intergenerational dialogues for knowledge exchange as well as convening and supporting youth groups to create a roadmap for advocacy.
“By building bridges amongst youth initiatives and contributing to a shift in mindsets within water institutions, we seek to drive recognition of the important role that young people need to play as equal partners striving for climate and water security” Raül Glotzbach, Scientific researcher – Innovation & Valorisation, KWR.

Global scope

The Youth Journey has a global scope with an emphasis on engaging young people in the global south, through the creation of regional hubs. The exact location for these hubs is still being decided, with the primary goal that they are representative of the diversity of contexts in which youth advocacy is taking place.
“The IUCN-led Consortium of partners brought together under the Valuing Water Youth Journey harness the expertise and complementarity needed to catalyse systemic change in how young people engage in water and climate decision-making and action. Together, we will engage from local to global levels, deploying our networks to realise the Youth Journey vision.”  Maria Carreño Lindelien, Project Officer at IUCN.
This collaboration aims to tackle the obstacles to meaningful youth engagement in the water sector identified in research by the Water Youth Network in 2021. The research found that young people are frequently underrepresented and disempowered in water management and governance processes despite recent progress. Specific challenges identified include:

• Hierarchical decision-making processes in which youth are excluded by default,
• Youth participation being treated superficially or seen as an end in itself (tokenism),
• The exclusion of those lacking specific technical training or education despite water’s status as a public good,
• Language barriers preventing meaningful inclusion of non-English speakers,
• Limited opportunities for capacity development, especially in the Global South,
• Fragmentation between youth-focused initiatives that limits their collective impact.

In combination with the outcomes and its associated activities, the roll-out of this Journey will be supported by a Valuing Water Youth Taskforce. This global, multistakeholder coalition will comprise youth and other organisations committed to strengthening the representation and empowerment of young people in water management and governance around the world.