Empowering young professionals: a new wave of water sector events in New Zealand

18 September 2025

A new series of events by CIWEM Aotearoa and Water New Zealand’s Young Water Professionals is aiming to develop emerging talent in the New Zealand

In a sector where innovation and collaboration are key, creating opportunities for young professionals to grow and share their ideas is essential. That’s why CIWEM Aotearoa and Water New Zealand’s Young Water Professionals (YWP) teamed up to launch a dynamic new event series for emerging talent in the water and environmental industries.

The primary goal of these events was to give young professionals a safe, supportive space to gain experience presenting to their peers. In Aotearoa New Zealand, more than 44 per cent of university bachelor’s degree students have science, technology, engineering, health, agriculture or the environment as their predominant field of study, according to Universities NZ. Yet it can be a challenge for these young professionals to get the opportunity to present given the limited number of local conferences, and the very competitive and daunting nature of these formal industry events.

The CIWEM/YWP events were held in the three main centres of New Zealand during July 2025: Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland and Ōtautahi/Christchurch. Each session featured three to five speakers with presentations tackling key issues across the water and environmental sector, challenging speakers to share their insights and perspectives.

The events drew strong attendance, with a healthy mix of YWPs and senior professionals, and fostered meaningful dialogue between generations of water practitioners. The series enabled professional development, networking and knowledge exchange, and sparked collaborations that will help shape the sector’s future.

A total of 14 presentations were delivered across the three events, addressing a range of subjects including policy and regulation, demand management, capital works delivery, sustainable and innovative approaches and a philosophical view of water values. Dan Stevens, a business director at the engineering consultancy Beca and one of the judges at the Christchurch event, commented: “The presenters did really well and showed their passion for their subject. I was really impressed by the engagement from the audience too – there were some excellent questions.”

Another judge, Angela Pratt, a senior associate at Jacobs, noted that the presentations were “all well prepared and presented, and they handled some tricky questions which showed that our presenters really knew their topics well”.

Senior water experts then provided personalised feedback to all presenters, delivered one-on-one in the days following the event to allow for constructive and thoughtful discussions. Presenters reported that the event format gave them valuable experience in public speaking, helped sharpen their communication skills and boosted their confidence in conveying complex ideas to industry peers. They appreciated the constructive feedback provided by the senior professionals.

To recognise participants’ efforts, three prizes were awarded to the presentations that judges felt best demonstrated originality, clear communication and strong audience engagement. Congratulations to Olivia Calvert from Vitruvius whose presentation on wastewater solids disposal to land won the prize to present at the Young Water Professionals pre-conference workshop, held just before the Water New Zealand | IWA Conference in Christchurch on 29 September. Judges described Olivia as an “engaging speaker, whose passion held the audience’s attention and brought innovative ideas”. Congratulations also to Sarah Innes (Watercare) and Sepideh Ansari (University of Canterbury), who won access to a CIWEM CPD-accredited training course.

Bradley Jervis, chair of the YWP Christchurch Branch, expressed enthusiasm for the initiative’s future. He highlighted the potential for more frequent informal YWP sharing sessions as well as online events to allow more connections across the country. Given the success of this inaugural event, the YWP committees are keen to make this collaborative speaker series an annual fixture in their events calendar.

CIWEM Aotearoa’s committee are looking to build on the success of these events to provide further opportunities to share knowledge across different stages of careers. We all took a lot of positives from the innovative and passionate thinking of the young professionals, and we hope to continue to develop these meaningful relationships.

The committee would love to hear from other CIWEM branches if they’d like to join up for similar events to share learnings from the very impressive young professionals our sector is lucky to have across the world.

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Tom Porter is a work group manager at WSP and a former chair of CIWEM Aotearoa