My route to chartership with CIWEM: Giovanna Tiboni

19 February 2026

Giovanna Tiboni, civil engineer at Binnies and CIWEM's early careers president elect, shares her route to becoming a chartered water and environmental manager

I originally chose civil engineering because I was drawn to large-scale infrastructure projects. However, during my university years, I began to understand that my own experience of water and sanitation was not universal. Learning that around 35 million Brazilians lack access to clean drinking water and over 100 million live without adequate sanitation exposed me to a reality very different from my own and made me rethink my purpose as a civil engineer.

In 2016, I joined a consultancy company in Brazil, where I worked on several water resources management plans across different regions of the country. Through this work, I experienced first-hand how technical studies, modelling and calculations can form the basis for better public policies and long-term decision-making. Working across diverse climatic, environmental and social contexts in Brazil helped me understand the strong link between engineering practice and public outcomes.

I later moved to the UK to complete an MSc in Water Resources Management and joined the UK water sector. Here, I encountered a different set of water challenges. I work on projects that are focused on improving efficiency, performance and compliance within water companies, including the use of technology to enhance operational outcomes in water and wastewater systems. This has deepened my understanding of how innovation and data can drive improvements across the sector.

Today, my career sits at the intersection of these two realities. Alongside my role in the UK water sector, I am also an independent researcher focusing on the climate change-water-society nexus. I actively advocate for bringing contrasting perspectives from the Global North and Global South into international spaces, including the UN Water Conference and UN COPs. This hybrid experience continues to shape how I see my role as an engineer, researcher, and advocate.

Choosing a Chartership

I chose C.WEM because it reflects the breadth and responsibility of working in the water and environmental sector. My professional journey has involved not only technical delivery but also climate risk, environmental systems, public policy and the social consequences of engineering decisions.

For a long time, I did not think I was ready. Like many early career professionals, I assumed that chartership was reserved for those working on very large, high-profile projects or with many, many years of experience. I struggled to recognise the value of my own work and often underestimated its relevance.

What changed this was taking the time to properly understand the CIWEM competencies and having honest conversations with two CIWEM mentors/sponsors who were already chartered. They helped me reflect on my experience in a more structured way and encouraged me to view my professional journey with greater confidence and perspective.

By mapping my work against the competencies, I realised that readiness is not about the size of projects, but about responsibility, judgement, learning, and impact. That process helped me recognise that I was already operating at the required level.

A defining moment for me was attending the CIWEM Early Career Professionals Conference in 2025, where I presented my research on climate change impacts on the water cycle, which affects women in Brazil. Before the session, I worried that my research might feel too siloed or distant from the day-to-day realities of other attendees. Instead, after the presentation, I was approached by early-career professionals from different parts of the UK and other countries who shared their own experiences and perspectives.

Giovanna alongside other award winners at the CIWEM Early Career Professionals Conference 2025.

Those conversations turned into rich exchanges about community engagement, decision-making, and how social perspectives can be better integrated into water and environmental projects. That experience reinforced the value of chartership as a gateway to a community where diverse experiences are welcomed and where learning flows in both directions.

Preparing my application

When I first heard about the chartership process, I made a conscious decision to learn as much as possible about it. I explored the CIWEM website in detail, reviewed the competencies and familiarised myself with the expectations of the process.

I applied for mentors through CIWEM and also sought support through the Binnies mentoring programme. I scheduled catch-ups with my mentors to understand how they had approached their own applications and to sense-check my readiness.

I then reviewed my CV beyond job titles and formal roles, focusing on every opportunity, project, initiative, or responsibility I had taken on. This included research, volunteering, leadership activities, and professional development. From there, I created a personal CIWEM tracker, mapping each competency against my experience. The preparation took several months alongside full-time work.

My CIWEM mentors/sponsors were fundamental to my journey. Their encouragement, honest feedback, and reassurance helped me recognise the value of my experience and stay motivated throughout the process. Equally valuable were conversations with other early career professionals who were applying or had recently been chartered. Sharing experiences helped normalise doubts and reinforced the sense that the challenges I faced were common, not personal shortcomings.

Preparing for the interview

After reaching the interview stage, I revisited my written application in detail to ensure I could confidently discuss every aspect of it. I arranged mock interviews with chartered members, which helped me understand the interview structure and practice articulating my experience clearly and concisely. For questions that challenged me during mock interviews, I returned to my application and relevant guidance, using them as opportunities to reflect and strengthen my responses.

Mentoring played a central role throughout my preparation, not only from a technical perspective but also in building confidence. Mock interviews provided a realistic sense of the interview structure and expectations, which helped demystify the process and reduce anxiety. Beyond that, mentors helped me refine how I communicated my experience, encouraged me to trust my professional judgement, and reminded me that the interview is a reflective professional discussion. That reassurance was invaluable in helping me approach the interview with clarity and confidence.

For my presentation, I chose a project in which I acted as one of the two consultants supporting the development of the Standard for Evaluating Brazilian Water and Sewage Providers. The project was based on Brazil’s Law 14,026/2020, which establishes national targets for 99% of the population to have access to drinking water and 90% to have access to sewage collection and treatment by 2033.

The work involved supporting Brazil’s National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency (ANA) in developing a reference standard to assess the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of the operation and maintenance of water supply and sewage systems. I chose this project because it was a defining moment in my career, bringing together technical analysis, regulatory frameworks, and public service outcomes at a national scale.

After my presentation, one panel member asked why the targets set out in the legislation were not 100%. This question went beyond the technical discussions I had prepared for, which were largely framed around CIWEM competencies and project delivery. Drawing on my direct involvement in the project, I explained that Brazil’s scale and the large number of rural and remote municipalities mean that universal access cannot always be achieved through conventional networked systems. In these contexts, alternative solutions such as decentralised treatment and septic systems are often more appropriate, while still meeting public health and environmental objectives.

The question challenged me to articulate the broader social, geographic, and institutional realities behind policy-led engineering decisions, and became one of the most memorable parts of the interview.

Top tips for getting Chartered

1. Seek out a broad range of experiences, including technical work, strategic thinking and people-focused roles.
2. Build genuine professional relationships. Progress in this sector is driven by collaboration, trust, and shared learning.
3. Start tracking your experience early and map it against the CIWEM competencies. This makes the process far clearer and more manageable.
4. Focus on what you have learned, delivered, and been responsible for. You are likely more ready than you realise.

Next steps

In my professional role, I am keen to continue developing as a civil engineer within the water and environmental sector, taking on increasing responsibility and contributing to projects that support resilient, efficient and sustainable water systems in the UK.

Alongside this, as CIWEM Early Career President Elect, I want to use the role to support early career professionals, promote inclusive leadership, and help create spaces where diverse experiences and perspectives are valued within the profession.

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Want to become a chartered water and environmental manager? Find out more at: ciwem.org/membership/chartered-member. You can also stay up-to-date with our free monthly The Environment newsletter – subscribe here.

Giovanna Tiboni is a civil engineer at Binnies (RSK Group)