AIWW Summit 2018: Let’s discuss the different ways people think about water
‘All aspects of life shape the way you think about water. Whether it’s about religion, culture, economics or just the way a person is raised or educated’, says Chrysoula Papacharalampou just prior to the AIWW Summit that will be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 15 November.
Papacharalampou is young professional ambassador of the Amsterdam International Water Week and she will be one of the speakers at the summit. She will reflect on the human side of the current water issues.
The AIWW Summit bridges the last AIWW Conference that took place in 2017, and preludes on the next one, coming up in November 2019.
Join the arena! Here seen the arena of the young water professionals at the AIWW in 2017.
Many different water identities
Papacharalampou has a diverse and policy-driven background in water research and will talk at the summit on the different water identities that people have.
The AIWW summit revolves around global water issues and experts from all over the world are expected to gather and share their ideas on these issues.
Coming from different continents and having different cultural roots, it is important to recognize the different water identities all these experts bring into the dialogues at the summit.
‘Your water identity is the way a person is shaped by aspects of life they didn’t determine themselves, but which do influence the way we think about water’, she adds.
Chrysoula Papacharalampou (second right) visiting the AIWW in 2015 as a PhD research student together with her colleagues of the University of Bath (UK).
Reshape thinking about water
Papacharalampou moved from Greece to the UK. She had to reshape her thinking about water and had to reshape it again after she moved to the Netherlands.
‘People in the Netherlands live with water. It made me aware of the existence of water identities and how this differs per person.’
Whether it’s about religion, culture, economics or just the way a person is raised or educated: all aspects of life shape the way you think about water.
According to Papacharalampou, these aspects should be narrowed down and taken into account, when discussing global water security issues.
Eventually, it will increase the understanding why and how countries are handling their water issues.
New generation
As Young Professional Ambassador, Papacharalampou wants to create and mobilize a community of young people in order to get things done.
‘Every generation wants to do things differently. My generation lives in a time where there’s an overload of information. It sometimes is a struggle to narrow it all down. On the other hand, we can also reach out to each other easily. This enables us to collaborate and communicate better and really get things done’.
Papacharalampou will be interviewed during AIWW Summit 2018 Leadership sessions between 13:00 and 14:15 hrs.
See the full programme and register on the AIWW Summit website.
Read also on this website
● AIWW Summit 2018: Join in on next steps in leadership on global water issues, 22 October 2018
● Amsterdam International Water Week 2017: Look back at a productive event highlighting opportunities and alliances, 8 November 2017
● Amsterdam International Water Week 2017: Ambitious coalitions want to realize new breakthroughs in the world, 3 November 2017
● Expertise: Resilient cities, Enabling delta life, Water for all and Water technology
More information
Amsterdam International Water Week
www.amsterdamiww.com
Netherlands Water Partnership
The Hague, the Netherlands
+31 70 304 3700
www.nwp.nl