Blog: Young AfriAlliance is heading to Stockholm!

Stockholm World Water Week

Between the 26th and 31st of August 2018, experts, practitioners, business innovators, young professionals, etc. from all over the world will come together in Stockholm to tackle water related problems that occur around the globe. The Stockholm World Water Week is a one of a kind opportunity to network and build partnerships, especially for young professionals trying to get a foothold in the water sector. This year, “Water, ecosystems and human development” will be the theme addressed throughout the week.

As an Msc student in Environmental Sciences at Wageningen University currently interning at IHE focused on the AfriAlliance project, the Stockholm World Water Week is a unique opportunity to seize to expand my network and find like-minded people with who partnerships and synergies can be created. One of the key elements I learned through the course of my Msc program as well as working on AfriAlliance, is the value of networks. With an increasingly interconnected world, environmental and water related problems span across borders and affect more and more people. Solving such problems requires collaboration from all stakeholders. Stockholm brings all those stakeholders attempting to tackle water related issues in their region, fostering a climate favourable for innovative collaborations.

Working on the AfriAlliance project, I was able to meet people from different organizations and different countries. The ability to exchange and interact with a wide range of stakeholders was something I sought at the start of my internship. The Stockholm World Water Week will be another opportunity to exchange information with other young professionals who seek to bring innovation in the water sector.

African Spatial Delight

AfriAlliance, G4AW and ViaWater will convene to put together a special session on Wednesday 29th: African Spatial Delight. As an intern on the AfriAlliance project, I will participate by hosting the session.

With the richness and increased availability of data, different types and sources of data can be used with practical hands-on tools to improve the lives of both urban and rural populations. 12 products will be presented to the audience in a supermarket-style session. Those products can, for instance, help farmers know when best to sow their seeds, or give timely extreme weather events warnings. This session will have on the one hand innovators who develop products, and solution seekers who aim to solve problems they face in their region. This session will therefore be a great opportunity to network and find collaborations.

AfriAlliance has many partners in Africa, where innovation is most needed. The outcome of the session will shed light on the technologies and products that have the greater likelihood of moving from a niche to the market. Hence there will be greater insight regarding the options AfriAlliance’s African partners have in terms of the products that would be best suited to help solve the water challenges faced across the different regions of the continent.

As a host of a session and a young professional, being at the forefront of the session will put me in an ideal position to make connections. Talking to innovators and people who have new and exciting ideas that can contribute in solving the real day to day struggles many face around the world is one of my goals for the week. Leaving Stockholm with potential partnerships and future collaborations would constitute a great stepping stone for my career.

This blog post was written by Joel Angoran – IHE Delft