About WILs
20 Years of Waterlution
For Waterlution’s 20th Anniversary, in the place it all began, we are thrilled to announce WIL Canada 2023.
Join us for this exciting Water Innovation Lab, building on the last 20 years of Waterlution’s work building skills, approaches and convening important dialogue across inter-disciplinary water topics.
How it Started
When the first Water Innovation Lab was hosted, we had no idea that thousands of youth and young professionals would engage in over 15 countries and 5 continents, where they would innovate together, become facilitators, grow their global networks and become leaders in the water and climate change sectors.
At WIL Canada 2023, we invite the next generation of water leaders to learn together, deepen knowledge and connections between Traditional Knowledge and contemporary approaches, discuss and build new adapted solutions, and weave our shared understanding together towards water security for all.
Our Goal
WIL Canada 2023 will give you, as an emerging young water and climate leader, the insights, tools, and connections to make a difference in protecting and preserving water resources. Right now.
Our water in Canada Needs Innovation
Water Innovation Lab, known as WIL, is a transformative leadership training designed to equip emerging water leaders with the skills, perspectives, knowledge and network to amplify their impact.
Through a variety of creative leadership mechanisms & tools designed to facilitate multi-cultural and cross-sector knowledge transfer & collaboration, WIL focuses on the most urgent water challenges and develops emerging water leaders to think holistically, innovate collaboratively, and communicate effectively while championing water management issues. WIL builds the social infrastructure for sustainable water management in the era of climate change.
Why is there a need for WIL Canada
The Challenge
Climate change continues to challenge communities, nations, and the globe in unprecedented and accelerating ways. Left untreated, the security of our food, water, biodiversity, and economies will be in doubt.
The Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan emerging from COP27 , “acknowledges that the impacts of climate change exacerbate the global energy and food crises, and vice versa” and “recognizes the critical role of protecting, conserving and restoring water systems and water-related ecosystem in delivering climate adaptation benefits”. Further, according to the International Energy Agency, the inter-dependencies between energy and water are set to intensify in coming years as water needs of the energy sector rise and as energy needs of wastewater treatment services rise.
Finding Solutions
Finding innovative solutions to our climate change challenges to ensure food, water, and energy security must be an urgent priority, and must be approached from an interdisciplinary perspective, including arts, policy, science, education, technology and more.
Adaptation, resilience and solutions, according to the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan will be discovered if we recognize the “important role of Indigenous peoples, local communities, cities and civil society in addressing and responding to climate change” and “the role of youth as agents of change” in this regard. Waterlution has long understood the value of these contributions, creating innovative innovation capacity building for youth and young professionals tied to Indigenous and community-centric and context-driven resilience and adaptation knowledge for more than a decade. Bringing together the causes and impacts of climate change across the climate change-energy-water-food nexus, WIL Canada 2023 will advance water resiliency, collaboration and adaptation skills development while innovating to create new knowledge, collaborative and policy approaches.
Ready to apply?
Are you passionate about the future of Canada’s water security under the pressures of climate change?
Applications open June 14-September 29, 2023
(rolling acceptances, get your application in early!)