Meaningful Youth Engagement for Water: A Win-Win for All

The Heart of the Challenge: “Youth are invited to join a space, but are still often siloed.” – Henry Pitts, Co-President, North American Youth Parliament for Water

The Heart of the Solution: “Enabling youth with trust and tools.” – Nina Bianchi, Project Manager, International Secretariat for Water

Earlier this year I connected with four inspiring water network leaders from the North American Youth Parliament for Water (NAYPW) and the International Secretariat for Water (ISW) about how the water community can support young leaders. The NAYPW works to “connect young leaders [between the ages of 18-35] with meaningful opportunities to influence water policy and build youth capacity and mentorship,” while the ISW “[brings] together citizens and organizations who are committed advocates for water.” The ISW supports and catalyzes the World Youth Parliament for Water network, which the NAYPW is part of.

"I’m originally from Switzerland and I participated in the European Youth Parliament for Water in Armenia when I was a teenager. Afterwards, I stayed involved in this network, then eventually got my current job in Montreal through ISW."

"I’m originally from Italy and became interested in water because of a referendum in my country against water privatization. With this background plus my interest in organizing youth, I naturally gravitated to my current doctoral program at McGill Law and the NAYPW."

"I’m originally from Alabama in the US, where I finished my Environmental Science degree right after COVID. I grew up around water scientists, and when I took a gap year I connected with one of the NAYPW co-founders who is an Oregon State alumnus. This led me into my current PhD studies investigating sacred and spiritual waters, as well as co-presidency of the NAYPW."

"I’m originally from Toronto, but grew up in New York. I returned to Toronto for a BSc in Environmental Science and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I grew up spending a lot of time near rivers and lakes in North Eastern North America. These experiences motivated me to pursue my current scientific research focused on the conservation of freshwater biodiversity. I was particularly drawn to the NAYPW based on 1) my experiences in both Canada and the USA and 2) the importance of understanding and participating in governance for conservation."

While water organizations often include young leaders in their initiatives, they don’t always ensure the engagement informs action, which can lead to youth feeling disempowered. The good news is that there are lots of ways to change this and put trust in young leaders.

Here are some of the pitfalls organizations fall into (in italics), paired with solutions (in bold), followed by examples:

Creating youth dedicated space without reciprocity

Offering Benefits for Youth Participation – The Youth for Water and Climate Programme in Europe provides workshops, mentorship, internship support, a community of practice and an online curriculum for participating youth. There is even a published Roadbook for organizations to understand how they can benefit from pairing youth with professional mentors in their own initiatives.

2. Creating opportunities without valuing youth thought leadership

Showcasing Youth Professional Expertise – The NAYPW is an organizing partner for the Columbia River Symposium, during which youth leaders participated on panels in 2024 aligned with their professional expertise. This allowed for fresh, diverse perspectives across a wide range of topics. In addition, this event showcased youth special rapporteurs – stay tuned for their final report!

3. Engaging youth without intending them to have influence

Enabling Longterm Inclusion – The Benton Soil and Water Conservation District in Oregon in the US has a program where local students sit on the board to learn how governance works, building longterm trustful relationships. The onus is on organizations to ensure youth engagement is more than just box ticking or “youthwashing”, and actually integrates youth opinions while supporting their learning.

4. Only reaching youth who have the greatest access to resources

Proactively Recruiting a Cross-Section of Youth – The Preserving Akwesasne Biodiversity project has worked hard with the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne to recruit Akwesasronon (Akswesasne youth) to participate in training sessions and dialogues. To recruit a representative, diverse group of youth, it’s important to build relationships with community organizations who are connected with local youth, as well as to provide resources to support their participation.

5. Offering opportunities that lack transparency

Transparency About Compensation – Resources to financially support youth involvement may be limited, but even small budgets can go a long way. The ISW provides flexible mini grants to its World Youth Parliament for Water chapters to support their activities (local action, advocacy, youth dialogues), pairing the funding with guidance on budgeting, planning and goal setting. The return on investment for ISW is substantial, and youth benefit by learning to lead their own events. Even when no funding is available, it’s important to center trust by being transparent.

Both ISW and NAYPW have broad reaching youth networks and are eager to engage in dialogue across the water community. If your organization wants to learn more about these networks, take a look at ISW’s Youth Strategy 2024-2030 and NAYPW’s Partners page.

About Rebekah Kipp

Network Communications Lead, Our Living Waters: mother, freshwater champion, beachcomber, and origami enthusiast

Meaningful Youth Engagement for Water: A Win-Win for All

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