The decision to move to a virtual environment was mainly to ensure large and inclusive participation and as a response to the COVVID-19 pandemic that will limit the physical gatherings. The two previous network meeting adopted the 29-hour long online meeting ‘Follow the Sun’ traveled along the 13 GWP’s regions. Each continental session covered a global segment and a continental segment.
For the EURASIA continental segment, The point of the discussion focused on 3 items:
GWP Partners Networking Platform
Online collaboration is key in this COVID-19 era, which is why a potential GWP Partners Networking Platform was discussed by delegates. It was proposed to develop a web-based platform that enables learning exchanges and features partner profiles. The platform would allow Partners to engage with each other more regularly throughout the year.
Photo: Mr. Fany Wedahuditama, Regional Coordinator of the GWP Southeast Asia presented the GWP Partners Networking Platform
IWRM knowledge competition and exchange programs
Another way to engage youth is through global integrated water resources management (IWRM) knowledge compe-titions and Olympiads where young people can work on finding innovative solutions to water sector problems. One idea was to hold a tech competition to tackle desali-nation issues. Exchange programs were also suggested as a way of connecting with youth in various locations.
Photo: Guljamal Nurmuhamedova, Regional Coordinator of Central Asia and Caucasus (CACENA) shared information on the IWRM knowledge competition and exchange programs
“It is time to give youth the tools to be successful in pre-serving the future. There is a need for clever and intelligent use of water sources. It is important to collaborate with people who focus on climate change. We can lay the ground for this strategy right now.” – Guljamal Nurmu-hamedova, Regional Coordinator of Central Asia and Cau-casus (CACENA)
Interregional learning and youth exchange
Following the success of Summer School 2019 in Central & Eastern Europe, it was proposed to expand the program to other regions in 2021. The aim would be to bring to-gether bright young minds to solve water issues. The school could take a hybrid approach, with both online and in-person classes.
Photo: Mr. Konstantin Ivanov, the Regional Coordinator of the GWP Cen-tral and Eastern Europe Explained the 2019 Summer School Programme
For the global segment, the same question was discussed in each session: The Covid-19 crisis impacts water resources management today and will likely have long-lasting impacts due to the socio-economic crisis and shifting political priorities. As water actors, how do you adapt your work to continue bringing change to achieve water security? Can we identify ‘success factors’ to make change happen in this new environment? The EURASIA partners responded with develop a capacity for technology use through training, create multilingual resources projects, and revise strate-gies to include remote regions.
The GWP 2020 Network Meeting report covered the whole ses-sion is now available and can be accessed through this URL. Read the global article here (include visualization for all sessions). AW