Young Professional Capacity Building and Collaboration Workshops on Water and Climate Change, inclusive of Traditional Knowledge

3 VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS

Between

FEB 16 – MARCH 2, 2023

Applications Open To:

Youth between the ages of 18-30 from Canada, Mexico and the United States

Simultaneous interpretation between English, French and Spanish will be available

DEADLINE to apply: Wednesday, February 8, 2023

About WIL NORTH AMERICA

Waterlution – in partnership with The Canadian Embassy in Mexico and the Commission of Environmental Cooperation – will co-host the WIL North America workshop series highlighting the commitments from Canada, Mexico and the United States toward environmental stewardship, particularly with respect to climate change, resilience and water. The workshop series will comprise of 3 two-hour sessions taking place across three days in early 2023 (see below for dates and times across 3 different weeks).

This event offers an important opportunity to showcase collaboration and engage with young leaders at a regional level to promote leadership, raise awareness and share experiences about water access and management and its relationship with climate change, importantly including practices and approaches by Indigenous communities.

OUTCOMES SHARED AT 2023 CEC COUNCIL SESSION AND 2023 NALS

This event will be an opportunity for youth and young professionals to develop and exchange ideas and potential solutions to innovatively and efficiently face challenges with respect to climate change and access to water. The outcomes of this workshop, such as the creation of new youth networks in North America, could be shared at the 2023 CEC Council Session and 2023 NALS to be held in Canada in the summer of 2023.

STAY CONNECTED

Core Themes

  1. Flooding/Drought
  2. Traditional Knowledge
  3. Agriculture and Water
  4. Coastal Erosion
  5. Aqua-Culture
  6. Water-Energy-Food Nexus
  7. Wastewater
  8. Conservation & Monitoring
  9. Storm Water/Infrastructure
  10. Innovative Solutions (including Nature Based)

KEY INFORMATION

36 Youth and Young Professionals from North America/Turtle Island

Platform: Zoom, three sessions, two hours per session

Language: Interpretation to English, Spanish and French will be provided for all sessions.

OUR Water in NORTH AMERICA needS

INNOVATION

The Water Innovation Lab, known as WIL, is a front-running, immersive leadership training designed to accelerate collaborative innovation, fast-track global knowledge-sharing and devise new innovations that improve water security. WIL supports emerging leaders and entrepreneurs across water and climate change disciplines to learn and innovate together. WIL develops future water leaders to think holistically, design innovatively, and communicate effectively across cultures. 

WIL NORTH AMERICA takes place within the traditional and ancestral lands of First Nations people across Turtle Island. Indigenous youth of all Nations are highly encouraged to apply.

PROGRAM DETAILS

ABOUT WIL NORTH AMERICA

Facilitate opportunities/organizations/ways to foster trilateral cooperation among young North American environment and climate change professionals, this initiative will bolster the priorities of the three North American partners with respect to these specific environment-related issues: gender, youth, and traditional knowledge. 

WIL North America

WHO CAN APPLY (Criteria for selection)

  • Youth or Young Professionals between ages of 18-30
  • Applicants will have a keen interest (lived experience and/or academic background) in water, climate, and related fields, multi-disciplinary (environmental, socio-cultural, policy, technical, etc.)
  • Applicants share why they wish to attend, what they can bring from their experience and perspective, contribute to the discussions
  • Applicants current work and/or academic experience and/or lived experience
  • Applicants will be selected from diverse backgrounds (Indigenous, racialized, LGBTQ2+)
  • Also seeking youth from rural and more remote communities (one’s own access to internet is needed)
  • Assets: experience across the region, multi-lingual (English, French and Spanish)*
  • Applicants should review the 3 workshop series dates and times and be available to ATTEND all THREE.

* Section in application form for multi-lingual individuals to receive additional training to facilitate breakout rooms (where simultaneous interpretation not available).

Schedule

WORKSHOP

DATE (THURSDAYS)

TIME

WORKSHOP #1

FEBRUARY 16, 2023 

1:00 PT / 2:00 MT / 3:00 CT/
4:00 ET / 5:00 AT

WORKSHOP #2

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

1:00 PT / 2:00 MT / 3:00 CT/
4:00 ET / 5:00 AT

WORKSHOP #3

MARCH 2, 2023

1:00 PT / 2:00 MT / 3:00 CT/
4:00 ET / 5:00 AT

FRAMING OF EACH WORKSHOP

WORKSHOP #1

The role of youth in water innovation in North America Setting the Stage

WORKSHOP #2

Diving into the Pressing Water & Climate Issues across North America Collaborating and Partnering Across Regions and Topics

WORKSHOP #3

Looking to the future: next steps

WHY JOIN?

Past WIL Participants

“The experience that WIL offers you will change the way you come to solve water problems, as it forces you to think outside the box and challenges you to run at the same speed in which the current world runs.”
- LUIS ALBERTO BOJÓRQUEZ RODRÍGUEZ Program Director, Conselva, Costas y Comunidades, A.C.
“WIL really fosters an opportunity for youth to spend time on changing the way we do business. It’s unique space for ideas and innovation to flourish and we don’t protect that kind of sacred space nearly enough.”
- ELIZABETH HENDRIKS VP, Freshwater Conservation, WWF-Canada
“Participating in a Water Innovation Lab by Waterlution is a life-changing experience. You will meet amazing people, learn incredible new knowledge, and leave deeply inspired. If you have the opportunity to participate in a WIL, do so. You'll be glad you did."
–WIL India 2017 Participant
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WIL NORTH AMERICA

Guest Speakers

Brook Thompson

Yurok & Karuk Native & a Ph.D. Student

Maxine Bruce

member of the Lil’wat Nation

Érika Uicab

consultora, profesora de Universidad

François Anctil

directeur du Centre de recherche

Miguel Ángel Trejo-Rangel

Investigador Postdoctoral

Erica Lynn Porter

Energy & Climate Analyst

Aurélien Guilabert

Activista y politólogo

Graeme C. Clark

Ambassador of Canada to the United Mexican States

WIL NORTH AMERICA 2023 Team

Karen Kun

President & Founder, Waterlution

Megan Cornall

WIL Coordinator

Adriana Caudillo

Environment, Development and Health Officer at Embassy of Canada in Mexico

Lucie Verreault

Intergovernmental Affairs Counsellor at the Embassy of Canada in Mexico

Georgina O'Farrill

Head of Unit, Outreach and Partnerships

Bhan Gatkuoth

Coordinator, Diverse and Inclusive Outreach and Engagement

FAQs

YES, as long as the timezones work from where you will be based during the workshops series delivery dates.

Unfortunately, this workshop series is only open to citizens of the three countries. Indigenous youth and young professionals whose traditional territories are across Turtle Island are encouraged to apply.

We prefer applications from those that meet the criteria and can attend all three sessions.

Participants will be notified by February 10, 2023.

We encourage you to apply! Tell us about how you’ve been engaged with this topic, and the reviewers will see if you have the right background to be included. This is a young professionals space, and if you really feel you want to be there, put your best effort in. Diversity of experiences adds richness to the WIL program and we encourage applicants that have unique backgrounds.

At Waterlution, speakers and experts are usually referred to as Resource Guests, where the role is to elevate the knowledge and skills of the young professionals participating. If you think you have a strong set of skills to contribute, please email megan.cornall@waterlution.org with your background and she will be in touch.

PARTNERS

PAST WIL OUTCOME REPORTS

QUESTIONS ABOUT WIL North America?

Megan Cornall

Email: megan.cornall@waterlution.org