 So hello everyone, welcome to our side event on communicating water, a game changer for acceleration and innovation. My name is Isabella Spindler, and I'm the membership engagement officer responsible for the young water professionals within the International Water Association. And it's a pleasure to be here with this event, doing this introduction part and opening, but I will not spoil this this time. I would definitely hand over to some of my fantastic colleagues that are helping me with the moderation part. We have Young Vila and Jacob Amingor, two of the IWA and ground for youth fellows that will be responsible for doing the moderations. So without further delay, I will hand over to Jacob. Thank you very much Isabella. And it's nice to be here this session and to meet all of you. So moving on our topic for discussion today will be on communicating water. And we are going to look at it from four different perspectives. There are a lot of knowledge and a lot of innovations that have been generated in the water and sanitation sector. And most of this knowledge and innovations are being published in general and then in technical papers. But we would like to ask ourselves if that is the right way, or that is the most inclusive way to communicate this knowledge and this innovations that are generated in the water sector. So there are two main questions that we'll be looking at. And we'll also go on to take some input from our experienced speakers. Then we will ask for input from the participants to be able to dissect this topic and see how best we are able to move forward from here. So to start with, we have the director, the executive director of the International Water Association with us, Professor Kalaniti Varava Moti, and he will start for us. Thanks very much, Jacob, for that introduction and good morning, good afternoon, good evening to you all from relatively sunny New York. I want to be quite brief. As Jacob said, so I work for the International Water Association and the IWA is a network of water professionals from over 140 countries. And our network creates among other things an international knowledge hub, where water professionals meet their peers they interact they learn they cooperate, and they develop and disseminate new ideas that really impact the direction of the global water sector. Now IWA has a legacy of around 70 years. And during this period, we've, we've really been very instrumental in taking part in the major discussions that have happened in the water sector on water supply to wastewater treatment and sanitation from climate change to digital water. And there are many, many other areas that we've been involved in so we have been at the center stage since the beginning of the water debate, contributing very much to an accelerating progress towards a water wise world. Now during this period we have witnessed solutions being developed from all over the world, solutions that arise from new ideas and new knowledge. And this results in leading scientific leading edge scientific breakthroughs disruptive technologies, and it's also shifted mindsets because we are dealing with a new normal. When we look at some of the global change pressures we face and so we see this sort of transition to a new way of doing water. You know as a result we're seeing a much more sort of creative, and a more, I know, you know, we're thinking in sort of more integrated ways than we have in the past. Now, as the contemporary world of communication knowledge sharing evolves. It demands that the water sector adopt to its new approaches, and that you know it really is important that we encourage a more inclusive approach to knowledge sharing. It also presents new opportunities for knowledge exchange and a rethink of the direction of that exchange. So we see a move from the traditional sort of north south knowledge exchange to much more sort of south north and south south knowledge exchange is taking place. And, you know, there are there are lots and lots of opportunities floating around us. So we have a, but we have the potential to create a society that's inclusive and built on the sum of the diverse expertise and based around the power of information and knowledge sharing. However, questions still remain on how can we ensure this inclusivity. We also know that the impacts of the new knowledge and innovations will be maximized and disseminated in a, in an egalitarian way around the globe. And you can see, say for example within IWA very recently, you know, all of our journals have become open access, we have just built a new content management system. So we are trying very hard to make all of our knowledge free available to everybody in the world. So throughout these discussions we cannot move forward to deliver an equitable and inclusive sort of prosperity economic prosperity and sustainable development. And so at IWA we are very keen to have all the voices included in the discussions and conversations. We believe that our members can play a major role in this continuous churning of new knowledge and the findings and innovation that take place in the water sector. This session is a perfect example of this process, as it was actually proposed by two of our leading young water professionals, and it's being delivered by the support of our secretariat and other partners such as IHE Delft, Water Science Policy, IUCN, Yungo, the Swiss Water Partnership and Greenforce. So we are fostering today the participation of professionals committed to the art of communication. We are working with professionals that are keen to disseminate and translate knowledge into different forms of expressions, highlighting the importance of generating and sharing knowledge with groups worldwide. With this in mind, I invite you all to listen to the key messages our panelists are bringing. I encourage you to actively participate in the discussions and contribute to develop a clearer more effective and inclusive language to communicate water. Thank you for joining us with this session, and I'll hand over back to Jacob. Thank you Jacob. Thank you very much. Hello. Thank you very much, Jacob. Before we go to the introduction of the speakers, Isabella would like would like to say a word on some of the practicalities of this session. Thank you Yung. So just a reminder that this event is going to be recorded and made available on demand. No translation is available, and no certificate will be provided. So when we have the discussion session Q&A session, please do remind you the chat box for general requests and for interactive activities. So I do invite you all to present yourself, do your introduction, say where you're from and if you are attending person here in New York. You can use the Q&A box to send questions to all the panelists. And all that in this microphone they're muted and we will not be able to respond to his friends on this. And I would also like to remind that our partners from this, we have the institution for water education, the three water partnership, Yungo, Grompos, IUCN and the water science policy. And for those that are interested in the agenda, as we had this opening remarks with IWA director, the context setting and we'll be going to the pitch by the panelists, followed by the moderate Q&A and the WAPAP on this. So I hope that you are ready. Thank you very much Isabella, I'll take it from here and indeed the opportunities for communicating water are immense to engage as many voices as possible and for that we have invited excellent speakers to bring you four different perspectives today and I'm honored to introduce the first two. Kaylee Ridings has over a decade of experience working in the water industry. She's currently the social and creative editor at Positive News platform Make Water Famous. And she's a technical writer and client manager at Wise on Water, a specialist communications agency working with some of the most innovative companies in the global water sector. Recently Kaylee was media manager for a large UK water company where she built a multimedia digital team and led creative and award-winning customer campaigns around sewer misuse, water efficiency and bathing water quality. A former business journalist with a passion for communications and the power of social media. Kaylee has also worked as a social media manager at a nonprofit and a senior press officer at a national charity. In her spare time Kaylee is a keen writer, public speaker and podcaster and recently she delivered a TEDx talk on issues about gender and mental health. We're glad to have you here Kaylee. Our second speaker will be Gaetano Casale, who has been working with IHE Delft since 2007. Gaetano is an expert in project cycle management and has a broad knowledge of donor programs. Recently he has also started representing IHE Delft in relevant water sector platforms at the European level. He is directly responsible for a broad range of key corporate functions such as business development, project management, contract management, partnership, quality management and personal data protection. He has a master of science in electrical engineering and a master of science in water site services management. Previously he worked as quality manager in the commercial sector, and he has also been a board member of a small NGO conducting water and sanitation projects and developing countries. Jacob, would you like to introduce our two speakers for the second half? Yes. Our third speaker is Beth Quaggis, the co-founder and CEO of Magic Water. Beth is a Nairobi University graduate with a master's degree in project planning and management and a degree in community development. She also has a postgraduate certificate in exponential technologies for global grant challenges from Singularity University in California. In 2017, Beth co-founded an award-winning social enterprise Magic Water that aims to provide clean drinking water to communities in water scarce areas using air to water technologies, also known as atmospheric water generators. Currently, Beth is a member of the African Union's high-level panel of experts on emerging technologies. Beth is working with academics, practitioners and key industry stakeholders to develop a report on water management and purification technologies. She's also on the Africa Prize Steering Committee for the Royal Academy of Engineering. You're welcome Beth. Our fourth speaker is Clara Membo. She is a communications professional working in the sustainable development field, specializing in knowledge management and communication strategies, including outreach and marketing, website development, content creation, video production, publication and social media. She works at the interface of science and policy and from grassroots to international fora. In her capacity as associate producer for the BBC series Nature, she created documentaries highlighting this economic role of Nature, including conducting interviews with business leaders, economists and politicians. Clara is bringing local community issues to global platforms through creative communication channels such as animated videos, people stories, infographics and social media. In her current role at IECN, she is responsible for coordinating the communications work for the IECN global water program. She is fluent in French, English, Dutch and conversant in Spanish and German. You're welcome Clara. A warm welcome to all our speakers and we will continue by diving right into the submissions that our speakers have made by watching short videos and while watching the videos, please remember to put your questions in the Q&A box. Our water problems aren't going away anytime soon, yet awareness about water's importance and its complexities is often low, especially in developed countries. Good communication about these issues can help rally support, provide vital information, encourage co-operative behaviors and identify effective solutions, all of which are urgently needed if we're to move the water agenda forward, accelerate progress on tackling the water crisis and meet those sustainable development goals. So why does the sector struggle to communicate and what can be done to improve the situation? While the challenges do vary across different regions and indeed across organisations, in my experience both in the UK and globally, fear plays a large role in the struggle to communicate. The sector is traditionally risk averse and often afraid of government, media or public backlash to innovation and change. In addition, when communicating, people in the sector understandably often think that convincing arguments are only made with data and facts and figures. And a version to simplifying language and using effective storytelling can lead to the overuse of complex language and technical jargon. And finally, there is the fear of the unknown. As the sector rooted traditionally in science and engineering, communications is often an unknown quantity that's considered optional or, to be honest, not really considered at all. So what does good communications look like? Well, it's the strategic mix of media and employee engagement, public outreach, social media and creative multi-channel campaigns. Effective communication requires a blend of jargon-free information backed up with engaging content, facts and stats and worthwhile quotes. It's focused on the audience's needs, not the desires of the organisation. Communicating with clarity also means identifying the social, political and economic landscape and adjusting your messages accordingly. Being aware of your diverse audience needs, and that includes language and literacy barriers, and observing and reflecting what people are actually saying about water. So don't fear. There are some simple things that you can do to improve water sector communications. I just want you to remember in, out and share it about. So for in, speak up for communications internally, stress the importance of embedding communications within your organisation or collaboration. Right at the beginning and at every stage of your innovation or initiative. Out. When you're out and about talking to people, mention the water crisis, tell them why it's happening and what's being done to tackle it. And spread it about. Spread the word about the innovations and initiatives that are happening in the sector. Tell your personal story about why you do what you do. Agree to a media interview, put a message on social media, write a blog, or you can tell Make Water Famous and we can help you to spread that message across the world. Dear colleagues, thanks for having me in this important session about communicating water. My name is Gaetano Casale, manager of the liaison office at the IHC Delft Institute for Water Education. I'm offering my perspective on communicating for capacity building or capacity development as we sometimes prefer to say. We at IHC Delft urge to increase the attention given to the issue of capacity development in order to make sure that any action from now until 2030 produces real impact. The endorsement of the SDG6 Global Acceleration Framework acknowledged the role of capacity development as a game changer. A concrete response to that political agenda was the launch of the U.M. Water Capacity Development Initiative that will also be presented during this conference. However, we have to realize that capacity development is not just one accelerator, but it's the accelerator that also accelerates all others. As without capacity, you cannot innovate, you cannot properly generate and use data and information, and you cannot have effective and efficient financing and governance processes. Communicating about capacity development is therefore extremely important. In my opinion, the key to properly communicating capacity is to address the issue of capacity, not as a simple useful tool that comes as an addition to, for example, large infrastructure development efforts with large budgets, but to profile capacity development processes as at least as important as these infrastructure developments. Moreover, we have to make sure that in our communication efforts we address the topic of the different levels of capacity, the individual, the organizational, the societal. Too often communication about capacity is limited to the aspect of increasing the skills of individual through traditional training, which is important but it's not enough to have meaningful impact on the ground. I'm looking forward to have an interaction with you on this and all other perspectives. Thank you. Thank you very much, Kelly and Gaetano. Having heard your submissions, I would like to ask you to comment on the linkages that you find between the two perspectives that's communicating water from the society perspective and from the capacity building perspective. Kelly, you can go first. Thanks so much and thank you for having me today. I think it's a really interesting question and I do think that the most important thing that we understand here is that all different types of communication, whether that's communication for capacity building or communication for societal good. They are all entwined. So I think when we're talking about this sort of question and we're looking at these, these different areas of communication, I think the most important thing to focus on is the fact that we almost don't need to separate them. Really what we should be thinking is that every time we're talking about communicating, we need to be looking at it absolutely in the round in that sort of 360 perspective about all those different types of communication that we have. Gaetano. Thank you, Jacob. Thanks for having me. I'm going to echo a little bit what Kelly has just said. Sometimes we, what I find it a bit of a pity that we sometimes deal with topics that are related to water issues. In such a silo perspective, communication, capacity development, capacity building the different levels. But like Kelly said, this everything is intertwined and we did a lot of progress. I can see that from my experience at IHE in engaging more with the press with society. And thanks to the technology we have the opportunity now to do it more, more direct, more efficiently. The youth play a key part here because they, they are more knowledgeable about the old generation about how to communicate among each other to spread the voice of the importance of water, for example. And I would like to mention that the, as I said, there is no separation about communicating about capacity development and communicating for society because society also needs to be capacitated, so to speak, in order to absorb those communication and filter them because we know that there are also, let's say, communications that are questionable. And an example that I want to offer on a new emerging topic at IHE Delft is about citizen science, probably you have heard about that. And citizen science in my opinion is extremely important to improve more to that extent. So that's briefly my 10 cents so far. Thank you very much for pointing out the linkages that exist in communicating water. And from your submissions it looks like we are all in this together and everybody needs each other to make this in work. So we will move on and take the last two videos. So my name is Beth Koegi and I'm the CEO and co-founder of Magikwata. So Magikwata is a Kenyan startup that works in arid and semi-arid regions to increase access to clean drinking water and especially using air to water technologies. And, you know, when I was starting Magikwata our strategy to communication was any publicity is good publicity. So we did reach out to a lot of newsrooms just to get words out about Magikwata and what we were doing in the water space. But over time we actually got a lot of attention from the media houses and especially after we got cover from the Netflix. And we changed our strategy because we wanted to create more awareness and talk about water issues. So basically our message changed apart from just posting social media post about the project we are doing and in the regions that we are doing this kind of work. We started talking about, you know, what are the some of the challenges that will be facing what are, you know, the current trends when it comes to climate change, what other solutions are being adapted. So communication is very key for any organization and startup and actually communication and talking about just that gives you validation. Thank you very much. I think something happened to that video, but Beth is here, so no worries, she will continue for us. We move on to have Claire make his make her submission live. Claire, over to you. Thank you. Thanks very much Jacob and thank you to IWA for organizing this very important session right at the beginning of the UN water conference, because let's all face it. It's quite difficult for us working in this sector to still see those really quite painful statistics about how many billion of people still lack access to clean water or sanitation facilities and having worked in water for IUCM for many years now. Obviously we are striving and working hard towards reducing this seeing the statistics reduce. The thing is, it's very difficult in terms of science and policy because we're working on climate change issues and we see it all through water how many more droughts and floods are happening. In terms of water governance we're working towards peace building and yet conflict over water is definitely an issue of this century as well as health related water issues and we only have to look at the recent pandemic to see how vitally important safe access to healthy water resources is important. So communications has a huge role in this, and I can only commend the other three panelists for bringing this message home and honing in on the importance within our own institutions as well. I'm highlighting the important role that communicators have because essentially we have a data we have science we have policy messages but they need to be transformed into a way that reaches the right audiences and targeting these audiences with products, animated videos or infographics or or even putting it in the right language or the right jargon for them to capture this information, and you plant the seed and it's not always easy to actually measure the impact of your communications because often an idea can sort of like big in someone's head for a while until action spurs from there so I my belief is that ideally and it would be wonderful to work more closely together with IWA, IHE, magic water, water futures, all of these amazing organizations and and working in a way that we can find strength in numbers and therefore target audiences and create more impact by working more closely together and I think this is already happening and I think the UN water conference is a great opportunity for more collaboration amongst communicators as well. So I'll leave it at that. I didn't pre-prepare a video but I hope this spontaneous edition is helpful and can spur some more food for thought and debate in this in this session. Thank you. Thank you very much Claire. That was amazing. So Beth, I will come back to you and ask you to comment on the linkages between communication for entrepreneurs and science based policies as you've heard Claire said. Yeah, thank you. Thank you Jacob for the invitation and you know communication is key for any organization or institution and you know bad communication and a lot of good things and learning how to explain and articulate and elaborate on issues. And also learning and listening and asking and confirming things also come in very handy and especially when you're dealing with communities, when you are working with governments, when you're trying to create these interlinkages because one thing we have to face when it comes to water issues we need to have a collective action. Many countries, many communities share a certain water resource so you cannot have like one region over there doing their own water solution. We have to create a collaboration partnerships with government, with scientific bodies, with entrepreneurs, with the communities, even within countries. And these relationships and partners need clear communication because communication, if there is a breakdown in communication, a lot of these solutions or a lot of these good things will not happen. So it doesn't mean that people do not have the solution but how do you communicate this, how do you enable other people understand what you're talking about. And I'll come back to my context. You know, I work with communities that mostly offered the kind of solutions that we are working with. It's quite, it's quite different from what they are used to. And, you know, when we started Magic Water we had to create a very specific way of communicating and explaining exactly what we are doing. Because I think the initial, you know, the initial starting up journey, we had a lot of people ask, you know, what are the same defects, you know, right now. A lot of the solutions that we take to the community, the first thing they would say, will these have side effects? We now have cancer, you know. So you have to come in and explain if they drink this water and what kind of water is this very clearly and how is the process of doing that. And the case applies to the government and other scientific bodies that are coming up with different solutions. How do you clearly communicate this and, you know, creating those linkages between all these stakeholders? Because if you have a water solution or a water challenge, you have more than one stakeholder, like you have so many people that have created these linkages and relationships with communication. Thank you very much, Beth. Kala, you touched on the interlinkages briefly in your submission, but I want you to expand more on how communication for entrepreneurs and science based policies intersect with each other. Yes, sure. I think since in my communications, I have learned that working with examples or stories works really well, so I'm going to give you an example. So for many years, for example, everybody knows the World Water Forum and these are forums that happen every three or four years. I can't remember, but it's when the water sector comes together. This is a good thing. Now, what is even a better thing is when the water sector moves out of its own sector in terms of communicating its work, its impact, its lessons, and moves into areas in which we water has also a huge impact, which is, for example, in the climate change arena. So two years ago in Glasgow at the COP 27, we had a water pavilion where basically a whole group of international water organizations work together and set up a pavilion to share our messages on the impact and the management of water in terms of averting climate change impacts, climate change adaptation. And my message here, since you're talking about interlinkages is if we move a little bit more out of the isolation of talking to the converted into each other into collaboration and talking to those who water is connected and linked to everything to them, to the people that are connected and the organizations and the business partners that are also involved in water, then I think we would be making an important and valuable step forward in terms of water management and the future of water resources. So with that example, and I hope that there will be more of these, perhaps also from the conference here in New York. I would like to sort of end this little addition on a positive with that. So, let's hope there's more of that collaborative approach and moving out of silos and into collaborative and innovative spaces. Thank you very much Claire for that response. I also want to remind you that you keep on putting your questions in the Q&A box. I will hand over to Yang. Thanks Jacob and thanks to our four excellent speakers. And while we are waiting for the audience to pop in their questions in the chat box. I would love to hear from one of the organizers of this session in Esprada who is also one of the IWA Greenforce fellows through a video message. Hi everyone, I am at the airport. Thank you so much for joining the session. The communication of water is definitely a game changer. And lately I've been thinking about how communication is important for us to acquire and gain further interest into our sector. More specifically, I've been wondering how communication can make a water career, a water job visible for young people that are still dreaming about what they want to be. It's very clear to me that some dream to be engineers, others, artists, scientists, astronauts, but what about water? How do we make kids dream about working in the water sector? Do you have any ideas or hints or things that we can do as water professionals to make sure that our sector is visible for those that will come in the next years? Thank you so much. I hope you're having a fruitful session. I'll make sure to watch the recording. Bye. Thanks so much for bringing up that very important perspective on why we need to communicate water, not just to the echo chamber that we have today, but also to the next generations. I would like to invite again the audience to type in their questions into the chat box or the Q&A box. And while we're doing that and waiting for questions to pop in, can I ask all of the speakers to please turn on their cameras and join me up here on the virtual stage? Awesome. I ask all of our speakers to, if you could just limit your interventions and answers to maybe under a minute so we can entertain as many questions as we can. And while waiting for questions, I've got one, just to start off the discussion. In order to better communicate water, what do you think should we be doing more of and less of? So one thing we should be doing more of, one thing we should be doing less of. Why don't we start with you, Kayleigh? Okay, well thank you so much, Yang, that's a great question. So the first thing that we need to be doing more of, and I think this goes almost counterintuitively to what we think of being as communications, is that we need to do less speaking and more listening. So the first thing that we need to do is start to listen to what people are actually saying about water. We need to understand what it is that their concerns are and meet them where they are. So that's the first thing. So stop talking and start listening. And the thing that we need to be doing less of, and this does touch on what I put in my video submission, is that we need to do less technical jargon, less addressing things up in stats and statistics, and more making the information palatable to the public. So that storytelling element that Claire already touched on in her piece as well. Thank you, Kayleigh. More of versus less of. Thank you. More of definitely I think it was touched upon explaining water to kids. Sometimes we have this weekend weekend of science in Delft, where kids, including my daughter, some might say they did know they knew barely what I'm doing at IHE and they and we had the access to this weekend of science where they experiment like for example, very quickly, looking at the microscope at waters from a river, and they find all sorts of biodiversity there they would not even suspect that and that's a fascinating discovery, but many many other example of things that you can communicate to kids. And unless I fully agree with what Kayleigh was saying our experts at IHE they are used to PowerPoint presentation and all these technical jargon words we have to do less of that. Definitely. Thank you. Thanks, Kaytana. Let's move on to Beth. Yes, thank you. So I'll start with less off. I think what we should communicate less off is, you know, these grimy statistics. You can look at the internet or even when people are talking they are talking about very scary statistics that feels like the world is ending in a week or two. So it's a it's very good to communicate about the situation, but at the same time people want to hear very hopeful stories, you know, people want hope. That is more what we should be doing now. You know, everybody right now at some point has experienced and understand the global water crisis. But now it's now time to talk about hopeful stories like how communities are adapting how communities are now becoming more resilient. Just to give other people hope that there is a better tomorrow right there, there is, you know, a way forward. Thank you, Beth. Finally, Claire. I agree with the other three panelists 100% and since I'm last I actually also had less off definitely the scary statistics basically I wrote like the the scaremongering less of scaremongering because it's paralyzing and it's demoralizing and people give up and so that's the opposite of what we want to achieve. More of, I'm going to say here, supporting youth, you guys that the youth networks you're doing such amazing work and one thing for me personally that has given me a lot of hope is in the climate change, all the youth activists, the Friday for action, all the youngsters out there in the climate change work are doing amazing, achieving amazing things and I think if we can reach that within the water sector too. I think that would be wonderful so I would say supporting young people in this in the water sector is more of. Thank you all for those very quick insights and silly raises a very interesting question how about those who are in the villages in Africa how can we set a communication channel for them and if we broaden this question how do we reach audiences that we haven't reached before whether because they're not part of the channels or that our messages just are not reaching them. Anyone wants to pick out on this question perhaps Beth you can start with this one working in the region. I think what I've seen that is more effective is, you know, having local change makers and local people who are actually being to, or people who are already involved in water because when you actually go to these communities you will find a lot of people who are actually doing some solution is how do you bring them to the table because they actually have more reach to their community so it's being very inclusive, not leaving anyone behind, people who may not have access like let's say such kind of platforms, how do we bring them at the table. And, you know, they have a much more effect and they reach more people. So it's just identifying these key players or even get us who actually are working in water and like bring them on board. Thank you Beth that's very important work to be done there. Haley do you have means of communicating with audiences that have not been previously reached in the past and how can we change that. And I think absolutely to build on kind of what what Beth was talking about there is that it's all about human connection. People listen to people people want to connect with other people's stories. We're dealing with, you know, particular areas or regions where perhaps, you know, a simple written communication isn't going to be the right way to reach those individual peoples or those communities. Then what it's about is bringing in passionate people who understand the area who understand the issues and are able to communicate either that's one on one, or as part of the community. If you think about the kind of creative elements of that. Is it more appropriate perhaps to hold an art exhibition, or to hold a community event rather than try and do something through traditional written form. So it's about understanding it again listening to your audience understanding who they are, and meeting them where they are rather than trying to just broadcast out the messages that we want to get across. Thank you both for those comments. I'd like to move on to this question from a Yuba, and they're asking most of the communication and water has been about infrastructure and less about quality and can something be done about this, and focus on perhaps the holistic issues surrounding water and climate guide time I'd like to go to you for that do you agree with this observation and how can we change that. I totally agree with this observation, and it's, it relates a bit of the message I've given in my video that it's not just the communication but in general the attention and even I would say the funding. Very often goes to large infrastructure, the thing that are more, let's say appearing that you can really touch the assets, this big stuff rather than focusing. I wouldn't say that it's infrastructure are not important or that that communication is more important infrastructure. It's just that there is not a real homogeneous approach in funding in attention and communicating to all the different aspects, giving the same value. So I think that's definitely something that we need to do as communicator to give at least the same emphasis to infrastructure of course but also to capacity development to the issue of education to the issue of awareness of the civil society. No, we're perfectly understood. Thank you. Claire, I want to go to you about this question because infrastructure tends to be where our decision makers go to because it's a nice photo opportunity for cutting ribbons and putting up projects how do we turn their attention to the other areas of water management. Yeah, that's a very, very good question because obviously we always think about infrastructure as a gray or engineered but actually nature is infrastructure too it's green infrastructure or blue infrastructure. And I think what works here is economic numbers for example when you build a dam say to to attenuate storms or capture water. The best the real infrastructure is upstream if you leave forests intact for example they will help keep absorb the water, avoid erosion water coming down the hill and over flooding the reservoir. So these two need to work in combination and that's that's that's so important and actually that is that is a huge economic benefit to because it saves money and often that is also there where the real crux of the matter lies. It's, it's championing the voice of nature through natural infrastructure that is also really important in communications and every indigenous community most local communities they know this, but we've been so disassociated from these aspects of living in urban centers that sometimes that simple truth is lost so let's keep it, keep it at that and look at the natural assets that is nature. Thank you what I'm getting from all four of these that we need to bring water not just top of mind but top of heart for for a lot of people and that includes a lot of listening and perhaps new ways of reaching out to people and delphine actually makes a very good example of that. In the comment section, she said that they recently used art and drawings for children to communicate water issues and that was really strong in getting the point across. I want to connect that to this question from Colin. He asks, is part of the issue, not about how we communicate water the format or the content or the channels but who communicates on water. Do we need to rethink how to empower new water spokespersons, including perhaps celebrities like high water, high level water ambassadors, or who do you think could carry that message of water championship. Tough question but let me start with. Yes, thanks, Colin. I know Colin is one that asks always tough questions. So that that's very good. And yeah, I think we have one big spokesperson that's, I can't even remember the name of this actor Mac demon is one of the big person talking about water. And I definitely would support having more because as far as I know maybe my colleagues in the panel or others know about other very important celebrity celebrities talking about water but I can't remember any other to be honest. I'm also a bit surprised that because water is such for us at least such an important issue and we only have one of these kinds of celebrities. Actually we should have invited him to the UN water conference to be honest but okay, maybe lost opportunity so yeah, that's my reiterate Collins Collins comment here. Thanks get on Beth any thoughts on who should we propping up as the new water champion or ambassador to communicate. Yeah, I think. Yes, we should have people that you know represent. Celebrities may appeal to some people and also like government even having like a model government government that is going to adapt all these changes and then the other government will feel jealous and then they will start adapting. So everything depends on the audience and who they hold high regard. So having these, I would call them partners to be like, you know, the poster child, you know, and other adapters, they will then show others the way, like even when we come to the context of the community, when you have like your neighbor, doing all these amazing water conservation commissions if they share a certain river, then you'll see the other people are adapting. So getting those models individuals. It's the hardest but it's clear it works. Model individuals and they don't need to be celebrities I like that idea. Thank you Beth. I'm really in Claire for this question because we talked a lot about storytelling to really get to the hearts and minds of people. What do you think are the best communication channels and formats to get storytelling messages across player do you want to step in on this. Yeah, sure. I was just still thinking about the previous comments. Because I've seen the effect that conferences when when when there's a Matt Damon or Leo de Caprio who shows up in people just they get so much attention they have such a platform. And unfortunately, it is a little bit the world we're living today with celebrity mania. So yeah, any any potential celebrities out there listening to this session do reach out to us. And on your question in terms of storytelling. I have to go back sometimes very simply to the roots. So, say my family most of the time when they're influenced by something is because they've seen it on TV, or they, it's hitting them directly. So, I think in terms of communications, what's still very powerful are our strong visual documentaries. Nicely put together that speak to people, and then they see it they talk about it and it kind of enters the social circles, or unfortunately when something hits them, their tap water is polluted or whatever. That's when people will also go and that's also a time for us to then step in and unfortunately jump on that occasion to to to bring home the message what can be done what should be done, and then to help them elect the right leaders in their government and sort of like influence that decision making because I think those are two things that impact people quite directly. There's more I'm sure but those are two that I can think of right now. Maybe Kaylee you want to share some other perspectives on that topic. Absolutely, and I think one of the things that it's really important to remember is that we are all connected with water in every element of our lives and I think that's something that we often forget about when we're talking about the big infrastructure you know the water crisis is that everybody has a connection with water in their everyday life, whether that's sport and well being whether that's through art whether you know that's culture. So I think a lot of the time effective storytelling is about finding out where people are already engaged and interested in water in their personal life, and starting to tell stories that will help them to understand that connection between where they where they have water in their life, and why they need this water and what the impacts the water crisis will have on that. I think that's a really important element is understanding that when we tell these stories we have to meet them where they are and I know I keep saying that, but I think it's really important to understand that some people may not understand the water crisis but they might understand the fact that that could impact on their ability to play football for example or play a sport, because if there isn't the water there to water those lawns and those greens, they can't play anymore. If they're interested in fashion actually you know the water footprint of fashion, and what that might mean for them. I'm telling those stories in a way that they will really understand and that's very much what make more famous is about is telling all of these type of stories in a way that we connect with people, and then using that as an opportunity to talk about not just the water crisis, but also the solutions and innovations that are happening. Marina points out a very important insight to all of this which is that perhaps communication is just the first step to a larger goal which is activating and mobilizing people to actually do something so her question is, what are the main challenges to link from communicating touching people's hearts and minds getting them to feel things to active participation in water management, how can we address it. Shall we start with Beth, how do you think, can we communicate better to activate more entrepreneurs solving solutions at the local scale. I think community. Yes, like you mentioned communication is the first step is to, you know, make people feel and make people act, but how do people act. And I think communication is key, but you can't just communicate to one person. And what do I mean by this, when it comes to water issues. We will need a lot of stakeholders come on board. And, you know, you know, even if it's government, and when you're communicating you, you actually have a call to action. It's not just, you know, these are the statistics, these are the challenges that you're facing. Some of these people can see it how do we go from here like, you know, where can I start from my own local or from my own context like should I plant more trees should I not plant these type of trees. So communication is just not one way. It's quite all rounded like it's it should be with a call of action like what, what should we do. What is our next step. So communication is not just saying this is the challenges. Okay, I have been starting a step further, like what can we do and also creating those conversations like bringing people on. Having discussions like what you do, what do you think is the way forward for these challenges. So it's not just one way. It's just to inspire it's also to inspire action and also what are those actions. Bringing people on both to discuss what are the actions that we can take now, what are the action we will take in 10 years, what are the long term actions that we can take. And so communication doesn't come on one aspect like just to inspire in touch hard, but also as the father like what, what can we do and also creating those discussions. Thank you, Beth, that's really powerful get down in the school setting how do we turn young idealistic university scholars were interested, perhaps on a nerdy level about water and climate how do we turn them into actual doers and shakers. I can tell you it actually happens that you have in my experience, many people that study at IHG. And of course you're all invited to to visit us to see how vibrant is that is that I also studied there by the way so I know what I'm talking about so I'm an alumnus of IHG. And for me it was really a revelation I started with a passion on water but when I was at IHG, what really the next step was not just getting the knowledge there but having the opportunity to be engaged with a network of professional from all over the world. And here in the different stories hearing how these these problems are, let's say, heavily linked with their own cultures with their own professional experience so that for me was at least as equal as the knowledge itself. But if I may for a few more seconds. So I think that helps with having to be able to, let's say, keep a connection with other water passionate it really helps also engaging with the future of your career. But I would like to say that in the process that was more or less suggested by the question is that you have to start in my opinion with the kids because kids get really passionate when they have passionate teacher. So you trigger the passion there, but then of course there is another aspect of the challenges. In my opinion I heard the story from some some students of IHG that people, the society need to recognize the value of water professional so there is work to be done there. Because sometimes water or environmental professionals in certain countries they are not considered as very important professional and that's also what we have to do what communicate that environment water etc to the society is is a very important issue. Thank you great I know, and it does become a long term strategy then to turn your kids into future leaders who will act on these issues. Claire, have you seen anything in your work where we can turn not just politicians who say yes water should be an issue water should be top of the agenda. How do we hold them to account. Well, we hold them to account by involving those most passionate amongst our communities and an example is in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, where we work with a group of women. And when passionate driven women get together mountains can be moved so there we were we empowered them you need to help empower people to get together and work in a way that their voices are heard so and this example with these women because the lake was polluted it was pesticides chemicals. And it's the women that were dealing with water provisions for their families so by providing them with photography and drones. They managed to get together and gather the evidence getting visual imagery in terms of highlighting what the problem was, and then that gets like lifted up higher up levels to decision makers who are then faced with the reality like there's an issue there and something needs to be done because it's affecting our households our children the future generations the ecosystem around. And this is just one example so all I'm saying here is that like helping empower those most affected by by providing them with tools in which they can elevate their issues is vitally important to go from communicating and listening to action and impact. Thanks Claire and a fantastic example you pointed out there. Clearly, do you see that in many and most of our communications we are actually bridging knowledge to action and what's missing. I think the more sector has come a long way, especially in the last few years and I definitely think that there is now this link between kind of the knowledge the issues and being able to kind of prompt action. I think the most important thing is that every single person that's involved in this event today and the side event everybody who's involved in you and the water conference. These are all the people that are going to make the biggest difference to how we, how we move forward how we accelerate this progress. And all of this goes back to this idea that passion will take us forward. Everybody who is involved in this is passionate about the issues and passionate about the way that we can solve these big issues together. So I think the most important thing here is harness this passion, this enthusiasm, this excitement to pass that on exactly as Gaithana says to the next generation to empower them to understand that water isn't dry. It's not a dry area. It's a very exciting area. It's a place that you could absolutely help to change the world for the future. So a lot of this is I think about understanding that we all have a role to play in helping to transform the future for ourselves and for future generations and really passing that passion on. Thanks a lot Kaylee that actually touches on the final question that I wanted to ask our panelists to wrap up this discussion. This UN water conference is the first in almost 50 years, and it has taken a long time to get here, and we're only given what three four days to be talking about very important issues. How, in your opinion, can we avoid this conference from being just a talk shop and communicating so that we bridge knowledge towards concrete action. Shall we start with Claire, especially with decision makers abounding in the halls of the UN in the next few days. Well, I would say that that responsibility lies with each and every one of us there. And not to accept the business as usual, but to speak up and speak out and by pulling in our networks, all of us have like channels of influence. I don't have the golden answer to this question because I think many people are asking and themselves that same question, but I will revert back to in the end it's with each and every one of us and if we all work together and work strengthening numbers can move and can accelerate things but I'm really hoping that indeed this is this is going to be a game changer and not a business as usual. Let's let's all go for it. I'm ready for it. And I'm looking forward to the next few days. Thank you. I love that. So are we clear we're ready for it. I don't know I'm sure you're ready for it to how can we avoid this conference being just a talk shop. Yeah, thank you young it's a good question and I'm afraid I'm going to mirror a bit what Claire just mentioned. And, by the way, you are surprised it's only a three days but I'm definitely surprised by the fact that he took such a strange process to organize this conference you might expect that once every 50 years the conference will be organized starting two years before but actually this was really it looked like a final rush, but nevertheless, I think there are good intentions from the organizers, and I personally witnessed that of being let's not only the discussion oriented inclusive all these things that are of course very important, but to be very honest with you and the bit what Claire was saying it's after this event is finished, and after the, the statements are made, and we all hope that the statements will be of sufficient capacity development whatever we want, but then it's our responsibility as water sector actors to get a bit better together, to be honest, because it's still, we are relatively small family but we are still, we still have to improve on the way as partners together we cooperate as one, let's say, actors towards the same goal so that I think it's up on us and we are willing to do our part in that. Wonderful thank you for those closing words Gaetano. Beth, how do we avoid this conference being a talk show. Yeah, thank you so much for that question yeah and like many other conference that has been always the biggest question. You know, and fear like, you know, how do we make sure that it's not all just talk how do we implement this I think two things first it's our responsibility to make our own commitment. To do what we can in our own capacity like my previous two speakers have mentioned, it's at our own, you know, we should make our own commitment and what can we do at our own personal level. But at the same time, because we are living in an era where it's possible to to hold people accountable. We want to hold this organization and institution that actually have the ability to do a lot accountable. And you know, just make sure that you know you say you'll do this but you're not doing this and hold them accountable to some of these commit and they will make at the UN conference. So it's also up on us to hold people accountable for that. Thank you so much Beth, last but not least Kaylee. Okay, so I think that the key here is that we have to be fearless moving forward we absolutely need to start not being afraid of failure, not being afraid of saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing. It's really important that all of us together and exactly as Claire said a couple of times that strengthen numbers. We need to work together, we need to create together, and we need to communicate together. And I think that's one of the key things I think here to accelerate this forward to stop just talking with each other and start talking to the public to stakeholders to regulators to whoever it is that we need to communicate with. The most important thing of all when we're talking about that communication is we need to recognize the value of communications as its own skill set and I think sometimes that's considered a bit of an add on the communications is part of the package. It's a very specific skill set, it's a very specific skill set, and I think it's a sector it's one of the things that we really need to embrace is that communications is its own very specific skill set that does need to have those very skilled individuals, helping to lead that, but also helping to guide other people into how they can become better communicators as well. So yes, fearlessness, working together and understanding the strengths of communications as its own skill set. And with that, we are closing this discussion and I'd like to thank our four brilliant speakers and thank you for sharing those insights with us today. Indeed, as I say on social media the onus is on us, and it couldn't be a better time to be exercising that I now turn you over back to Isabella for closing this session. Thank you, young and thank you to all the speakers that is amazing contributing in terms of how we can improve communication how we can prove the way that we disseminate the knowledge and we disseminate information about water. And since we are talking about ways of communication, I would like to invite you all first to attend another IWA event that is going to happen tomorrow. Inside the day one headquarters is focused on cross sector partnerships to accelerate progress towards implementation and I would like to invite you all to another side event happening a little early on taking the next step sort of water and climate resilience. This is a word truth capacity development of people and organization. And one of the other events that I want you to invite is a special event that is happening on Friday, focus on water leadership uniting for a sustainable work. And this is a youth led event as you can see it's being organized by a lot of youth led organizations and other organizations that are supporting this process of youth engagement in the water sector, which IWA is probably part of it. So do join us on Friday, I do recommend that you arrive early because we have limited space and she attended. Regarding the next IWA event that we have it. I cannot end this session with writing without inviting all to join our leading edge conference and water and wastewater technologies. And also a water and development Congress and exhibition that was going to happen in Kigali in the, in December. So thank you all for coming today, and we'll be posting records of the site event on our website. Thank you.