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BUILDING YOUTH SKILLS AND KNOW-HOW FOR A BIO-BASED REGIONAL ECONOMY ACROSS THE DANUBE WATERSHED
Virtual Training Oct 1-3 2021
Water for the Environment, Agriculture & ICT
Virtual Learning
Waterlution is pleased to offer this first Water Innovation Lab (WIL Danube+ 2021) to young leaders from Danube countries keen to deepen their knowledge across water, environmental, agricultural themes, while simultaneously expanding their network, and gaining valuable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills. WIL Danube+ 2021 will blend applied leadership skills training with opportunities for regional and national collaborations around water contributing to the implementation of the SDGs.
WIL Danube + 2021
WIL Danube+ 2021 welcomes youth, ages 18-35 from the following countries, and diaspora, to apply to join the program:
- Austria
- Bulgaria
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Germany
- Hungary
- Montenegro
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Romania
STAY CONNECTED
An Inter-Cultural Water Learning Experience Exploring Culture, Storytelling and Pathways to Resilient Water Futures
OUR Water in the DANUBE needs
INNOVATION
Waterlution’s Water Innovation Labs (WILs) 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. To date, 16 WIL programs, across 5 continents, 9 countries, trained 1500+ young water leaders, engaged 350+ mentors, and initiated 125+ water innovation projects.
With leadership training at its core, WILs equip the next generation of young water researchers, policy-makers, and waterpreneurs with mindsets and skill-sets for beyond 2021: collaboration, creativity, global-engagement, complex problem solving, and impact-oriented thinking.
Participants who successfully complete Phase I will have the opportunity to apply for advanced in-person training in Phase II
PROGRAM DETAILS
Important Dates
June 2, 2021
Applications open
September 13, 2021
Applications deadline
September 15, 2021
Accepted applicants notified
Program delivered
Oct 1-3, 2021
See Schedule for details
PLEASE NOTE:
WIL Danube+ will be delivered in English
Throughout the WIL Danube+ 2021 journey, youth (18-35 yrs) will have the opportunity to deepen their water and environmental knowledge, develop a regional collaborative network and start co-developing ideas to solve local and regional challenges.
The program will include:
- community building and cross-cultural communication exercises
- online sessions focused on water management with presentations from expert resource guests, and community dialogue
- 21st century entrepreneurship skills training for a bio-based economy
Program Fees
$50 USD
For those employed, able to receive support from their academic institution or employer
Pay What You Can
For those who don’t have the financial means to cover the full program fee. You can indicate the amount in the application form.
Scholarships
For those that cannot offer a financial payment. You can indicate your request for a scholarship in the application form.
Phases
Phase I – October 1-3, 2021
Invites youth and young leaders to apply for a weekend long online immersion with expert presentations and concludes with co-innovative solutions designed at a conceptual level within multidisciplinary teams. Participants who meet all requirements and present their projects are selected to participate in Phase II.
Phase II – 2022
For extensive capacity building and skills training to advance, pilot, prototype new water innovations as well as deepen media and story-telling skills.
The goal is to deliver Phase II in 2022 hopefully in-person => please stay tuned for more details, they will be shared as available (October-November 2021).
Announcing a Hybrid Phase I
We are opening up an in person opportunity for place-based learning and connection with one another. A limited number of spaces will be opened up in Phase I, as we gear up to offer a tour of cities along the Danube for Phase II. Details will be provided for accepted participants on September 15th.
Because of the current times, if a threat to public health would be posed, we reserve the ability to cancel the in-person component one week prior to the delivery of the program.
In order to attend WIL Danube+ in-person, you must be fully vaccinated
Schedule
DAY 1
Cultural Connections to Water and Communities
3-6pm CET / 9am-12pm EST
To open up WIL Danube+ 2021, guests will share a holistic and cultural understanding of water. We will learn from artists, visionaries and water policy makers from the Danube while also building community between participants.
DAY 2
Watershed Management, Agriculture & ICT
4-6pm CET / 10am-12pm EST
Building from Day 1, interactive training will focus on the current water situation. Together we will explore water management, agriculture, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Resource experts and leaders from their field will share approaches, highlighting challenges and successful models that encourage participants to think of their own creative and innovative solutions.
DAY 3
Collaborating on Water Innovations in local communities
3-6pm CET / 9am-12pm EST
This final session is all about collaborating together. We will facilitate an open space, during which participants will share new ideas for solving local water challenges. Within group discussions participants will deepen these ideas and consider ways to collaborate on innovative water solutions going forward.
Who will participate in WIL Danube+?
0 +
Young Water Leaders from Danube + Diaspora
0 +
Resource Guests
0
Facilitators from the Balkans and Canada
Who is Eligible to Apply?
- Young people between the ages of 18-35 with linkages to the following countries: Balkan and Danube countries sharing the Danube waters
- Able to make a meaningful contribution around cross-cutting water themes of environment, agriculture, or ICT in the Danube
- Available between Oct 1-3rd, 2021 (8 hours total over 3 days)
- Motivated to develop an intercultural network of water innovators, engineers, artists, and community leaders with whom to solve water challenges
- An intermediate level of English. (The program will be delivered in English with limited Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian translation provided when necessary.)
If this sounds like you, then WIL Danube+ is for you!
WIL Danube +
Organizational TEAM
GUEST Speakers
More guest speakers will be added.
Prof. Marija Jevtic
Full professor at University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine; EU Climate Pact Ambassador
Expert Resource Guest
Jürgen Schick
Deputy Head of the Department for EU Cooperation in Education Training and Multilateral Affairs in the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research of Austria
Expert Resource Guest
Damir Muslić
UNDP MEG Project, Environmental and Water Management Field Officer
Expert Resource Guest
Dr Zorica Jestrovic
Water for responsible and sustainable development of Agriculture
Expert Resource Guest
Ms Veselina Radanov Pelagić
Expert of the Working Group 7 of the National Convention on the European Union progress
Expert Resource Guest
ABOUT THE PARTNERS
Media Education Centre (MEC), Our Future First’s Nasa Gora Initiative, and Waterlution have come together to collaborate on a new water youth entrepreneurship project that blends each organisation’s strengths and creates new opportunities across the greater Danube watershed.
MEC is cultivating a New Generation, ready to combine peace, tolerance, knowledge and skills about cultural, historical, traditional and environmental heritage to transform our world; to take action actively! The Danube for Peace project encourages and empowers participants with the required knowledge and skills to become sociopreneurs and is shaping a new generation of active and engaged global citizens.
Our Future First establishes spaces for transformative dialogue, where core values can be expressed, and alternative outcomes imagined. An enabling process for collaboration is created where you own the final outcome. The Nasa Gora initiative equips youth with cross-cultural communication and entrepreneurship tools they need to become community leaders.
QUESTIONS ABOUT WIL Danube+?
Natalija Vojno,
Nasa Gora Initiative Founder
Email: natalija@ourfuturefirst.co