What is GWP-SEA Water Academy for Youth (WAY)?
The world is defined by the people who live in it and GWP believes that young people are the present and future leaders that hold the power to build a more sustainable future.
In 2021, GWP launched the Water Academy for Youth (WAY) GWP’s flagship Youth Programme that will be the umbrella programme for GWP’s Youth activities aimed to promote leadership, regional youth capacity building, mentorships, fellowships/internships, networking and intergenerational dialogues.
The GWP WAY is a customisable programme that can be adapted to the needs of the region or country that is implementing the programme. The programme revolves around the acceleration of the SDGs and improving the skills of young leaders.
What makes the GWP WAY different is the approach taking strategic steps from learning to leading. The manner of teaching moves away from traditional lecture-based teaching and creates a space of collaborative and immersive learning based on design thinking. Then using the knowledge and experience gained young people are connected to decision makers, practitioners, and senior water leaders to take action on SDG implementation through water.
Academies were hosted in South Africa and Caribbean regions and the aim is to implement four (4) academies across the Pan Asia Region (one in each region) in 2022, including for the Southeast Asia Region.
Overarching Objectives of the GWP-SEA WAY
- To ground learning opportunities in practical experience in a relevant policy context to stimulate action between young people and decision makers
- To have customised, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral courses, specific to local and regional needs
- To build youth interest, capacity and leadership in water governance and management and reenergize the GWP Network
- To create pathways for accelerated collaborative solutions on SDGs between decision makers and young water leaders for effective youth engagement in regions
The GWP WAY is made up of four (4) major curriculum elements
1. Leadership and Skills Curriculum (C1)
This curriculum will focus on specific areas of soft skill development. It will focus on developing skills such as goal setting, decision making, listening, empathy, problem solving and communicating through workshops and interactive sessions. The workshops will be executed by specially selected facilitators with experience offering fun and creative methods that will keep the participant’s interest.
This can be in the form of weekly calls, with inspirational guest speakers to share their insights on their experiences, the barriers they overcame, as well as capacity building workshops
- Orientation week, self-reflection, goal setting and expectations
- Leadership, breaking down barriers, cultural sensitivity
- Collaboration, partnerships, and the power of influence
- Communication and Storytelling
2. Locally Centered Learning and Capacity Building Curriculum (C2)
This Curriculum will immerse the participants in local issues and delve into a heightened understanding of the specific challenges that impact countries and regions.
It will be led and developed by each of the different regions on a topic that is most relevant to them. Create a small module that includes real experiences and stories on the theme and exercises. Participants will begin the process of constructing their knowledge around the topics and identify the challenges that are developing and use the knowledge gained to create solutions. Themes can be but not limited to:
- Water related disasters
- Nature Based solutions
- IWRM implementation
- Transboundary Cooperation
3. Scenario Planning and Problem-Solving Curriculum (C3)
This curriculum will focus on the various approaches to problem solving and scenario planning building on the content that was shared in the previous curriculum. It will explore tools for stakeholder/public engagement in community scenario planning and the use of communication, research, models & visualizations to help communities and various stakeholders understand their environmental, social, and economic implications. Using this knowledge apply scenario planning to plan for water challenges in the region/country/community.
This can be in the form of group work on critical analysis & uncovering new dimensions in a real-world context also weekly workshops, with guest practitioners to share their challenges and experiences as well as the utilization of tools in tangible and actionable ways. The youth should be given the opportunity to create their own solutions to the challenges presented or to issues they experience. Topics include but not limited to:
- Problem identification
- Methods of scenario Planning, design thinking
- Human centered approaches
- Stakeholder engagement
4. Mentorship, solution transfer and inter-generational knowledge sharing (C4)
Participants will learn about the complexity of cross industry linkages and balancing the needs of society and environment. At the end of the entire programme selected participants will be given the opportunity to gain a fellowship/mentor resourced from the GWP partner organisations e.g. Governmental focal points for IWRM Implementation.
It is expected that the mentors and mentee meet at least once a week to check in on the progress with the curriculum, provide feedback and also be a listening ear on their leadership journey.
The application deadline is Sunday, 9 October 2022 at 11:59 pm (Jakarta/ Bangkok/Hanoi).
The applications will be open from 28th September 2022 to 9th October 2022. 18 participants (2 from each SEA country) will be selected and notified by the 12th of October.
Eligibility:
- Must be a Southeast Asian national from GWP-SEA countries
(Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore)
- Fluency in written and oral communication in English (TOEFL ≥ 500 and IELTS ≥ 6.0)
- Must be a youth with age between 18-35 years
- Youth from a range of different disciplines are welcome to apply and there is no prior experience in the field of water is required
- Available time to commit to an average of 3-hrs of structured sessions per week with additional time as per tasks assigned
Application Requirements:
- Answer the questions on the application form
- Attach your CV
If you have any issues with the form or questions regarding the program and application, please contact our secretariat (secretariat@gwpsea.org) and indah.salsabiela@gwpsea.org
The course will be hosted fully online.