Water Innovation Lab
Queen's Biology Station, Kingston & Regional Field Tours
Water Innovation Lab Canada
Water Innovation Labs are globally recognized as a pioneer in the development of young water leaders’ capacity to think and act beyond boundaries, in service of solving some of our world’s complex water challenges. Our signature experiential learning process, leadership development training, focus on collaborative innovation and team development combined with local and global water content and facilitation methods provides an exceptional learning and skills space for those early in their career or entering the water sector.
Waterlution celebrates 15 years at home!
2018 marks the 15 year anniversary of Waterlution and to celebrate this important milestone, we will host a very special Water Innovation Lab (WIL) in Canada. While for the past 5 years Waterlution has been bringing Canadian water expertise to global audiences for knowledge exchange and innovation on water, WIL Canada 2018 will bring the world to Canada to showcase Canadian water innovation and leadership.
Important Dates
February 14, 2018
H2O Global Leaders + WIL Canada applications open
April 3, 2018
Program schedule released
April 26, 2018
First accepted participants emailed
May 17, 2018
Depending on availability of space second round of participants accepted
June 2018
Webinars to start building network and skill sharing
Webinars dates offered in acceptance emails
What are Water Innovation Labs?
Waterlution’s global Water Innovation Labs are front-running, immersive leadership development experiences designed to accelerate collaborative innovation, fast-track global knowledge sharing and devise new innovations that improve water security for the planet, and support emerging leaders (20-35 yrs) to implement SDG targets connected to water in their organisations and projects. With leadership training at its core, WIL global experiences equip the next generation of young water researchers, policy-makers, and waterpreneurs with mindsets and skillsets for beyond 2020: collaboration, creativity, global-engagement, complex problem solving, and impact-oriented thinking. Our groundbreaking, cross-sector, cross-disciplinary approach has become a proven new model for global engagement, co-innovation leadership, and a catalyst for co-created change.
WILCanada 2018
Who Will Be At WIL Canada 2018
H2O Leaders + WIL Canada 2018 is designed for 20 to 35 year-olds from a diversity of backgrounds and nationalities who are enthusiastic about innovating within the global water context.
Please see the theme areas that will be in focus and we are seeking individuals that work, do research that cross over, or compliment these themes Waterlution believes the most compelling dialogue comes from having a mixture of knowledge and perspectives together in a facilitated experience. Participants include:
100
Young Leaders From Across Canada
& around the Globe
Estimate number will be 60 Canadians & 40 Global (including those that are part of the H2O Leader Training) water professionals and researchers (grad students), waterpreneurs, social scientists, community leaders engaging in facilitating processes of collaboration around water resources.
25+
Resource Guests,
Mentors & Visionaries
with experience in water policy, technology and management, indigenous water management, community engagement, business leaders. They bring the much needed content, experience and skill base to support the development of the WIL participants.
5
Facilitators
Waterlution’s core team of facilitators cannot wait to bring the Waterlution program to life and guide you through an exceptional week of learning, experimentation, facilitated discussions, activities and actions. This core team are also pretty keen on having fun, as a strong component to the work we do, believe it and support.
Is WIL Canada for you?
Are you 20-35 years old, passionate about water?
Are you a graduate student, young professional or community leader with a focus on water?
Do you have a water project, business idea, or artistic intervention that you would like to develop?
Do you want to build your leadership skills and techniques around collaborative innovation*?
Do you want to work alongside peers and industry experts and mentors to find solution to challenging water problems and build an incredible global network?
If this sounds like you, then WIL Canada 2018 is designed for you! for a transformative week of engagement, innovation and change-making in 2018.
*Collaborative Innovation is when knowledge, products, services are created cooperatively by a team, with members having different yet complementary ideas, knowledge and skills. Over the course of WIL every participant will be part of a team, working towards pitching their idea. It is not “winner takes all” approach, yet working together and cheering on other teams.
Why attend a WIL?
“Participating in a Water Innovation Lab by Waterlution is a life changing experience. You will meet amazing people, learn incredible new knowledge, and leave feeling profoundly inspired. If you get a chance to participate in WIL, definitely do it. You’ll be glad you did.”
– WIL India participant, 2017
“This experience has widened my mind to the diversity of possibilities that are open to me within the water world – my boundaries have been blown open.”
– WIL Netherlands participant, 2017
“All of a sudden, I started thinking of my knowledge as more useful, and myself as a more valuable asset to a team. I always saw myself as younger, less experienced and less knowledgeable than everyone else in my field, but now I realize that I have real skills, and what I needed was more confidence and the tools to bring those skills into a collaborative work space.”
– WIL Scotland participant, 2015
“Different parts of our brain were activated each day. Building water entrepreneurs and the Pro-Action Café were a great mix so people could test their ideas with a wide range of participants. There were so many great ideas, I was left wondering which ones would go forward and I really want to follow the stories from this WIL.”
– WIL Canada participant, 2013