Bringing the Youth to Copenhagen
On September 11, 50 students arrived in Copenhagen to eat and room together, participate in early morning lectures and go on field trips, all specifically arranged for them. In addition, the students were challenged each morning with specific tasks to be solved at the IWA Congress by listening to platform presentations, studying posters or discussing with exhibitors in the Exhibition Hall.
After spending the day at the IWA Congress, students met in the evenings to turn in tasks and reflect on their experiences during the day.
Learning objectives for the World Water Camp included:
- learning to navigate a large conference,
- gaining knowledge about selected water sector themes,
- broadening their professional network,
- practicing social skills in an international atmosphere, and
- simply having fun!
World Water Camp participants with their diplomas. Credit: VIA University College, Laura Nisgaard
World Water Camp was sponsored by The Grundfos Foundation as well as Fors, COWI, Silhorko-Eurowater, Danish Water Forum, Rambøll, NIRAS and DHI. These important sources of funding contributed to equality by keeping student costs at a minimum and by providing scholarships for students from low-income countries.
Camp participants also had the opportunity to visit Grundfos’ exhibition at World Water Congress. Photo: Rasmus Reimer Larsen, Grundfos
Looking ahead, a full on-line course supported by many global experts is planned for the fall of 2023. This 3-month course will build on the highly successful course of 2021, when the pandemic forced the World Water Camp to go virtual. The course in 2023 will lead up to a next physical World Water Camp in Toronto in 2024 in connection with the next IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition.
Credits
- Text by Torben Lund Skovhus, Project Manager of IWA World Water Camp 2022 and Loren Ramsay, Technical Director of IWA World Water Camp 2022
- Photo acknowledgements: VIA University College, Laura Nisgaard