Bridge-builders: Gender perspectives of bridging the inter-generational gap in the water sector Collaborative workshop with the Young Water Professionals and the Water Youth Network during the Gender, Water and Development conference.
5th November 2014
Young people have a key role to play in addressing current and future water challenges Time: 14h00-16h00 Venue: International Conference Centre, East London, whilst working hand in hand with senior water practitioners. South Africa Workshop Facilitators: Dr Inga Jacobs (Past YWP chair) and Louise Bryson (YWP-EC) Louise Bryson: We need to take cognisance of the changing face of both water users and water practitioners as both are important when addressing significant water challenges. The younger generation are moving up the ranks as water users and they are bringing with them a different take on value. Growing up with evolving technology has meant that they have learnt to value round the clock service and accessibility. This provides an exciting opportunity for technology in water services. The water sector desperately needs practitioners with technical skills, but at the same time there is a startling lack of strategic or “soft” skills necessary for the demands of a changing environment. With many experienced practitioners retiring, there is an important gap in the sector that needs to be filled. Experienced practitioners will not necessarily have their “shoes filled” by the younger generation, as this is a generation which does things differently. They are happy to challenge authority, demand feedback and question everything. Again this is an exciting opportunity for the water sector as it is a fresh way of thinking, when aligned with experienced practitioners’ know-how that may be important when addressing challenges. There are plenty of young graduates out there who are more than capable, but the trick is how to engage them effectively. Both parties need to bring something to the table as active partners when addressing water challenges. Certain questions the audience was asked to consider during the talks were: Question 1: What is the role of the youth as bridge-builders in the water and sanitation sector? Question 2: What are the challenges faced in this regard? Question 3: What are the tools and the enabling environment to help bridge this gap? Eiman Karar (WRC): Ms Eiman Karar kicked off the session by providing her personal reflections of the changing world of the water sector, and the role that young people may play in it. Water issues need to be looked at within a system scale and with systems thinking it is important to embrace complexity. It is possible that the younger generation may be more in tune with this type of thinking and it should be encouraged that they “challenge authority”, not in the traditional sense, but the linear way of thinking that the water sector has used to face problems in the past. The younger generation needs to be bold enough to bring new ideas to the table as to bring about real change we need something faster. We have a responsibility to future generations to participate and change the landscape of water challenges. It is important to partake in structures which influence decisions as people need to speak up and not just be spoken to. We also need to take the theme of gender in context: in the boardroom gender is an issue of female participation in decision making, whilst in rural areas gender becomes an issue of traditional participation. It is difficult to challenge the traditional system as it is necessary to conform to traditions in