Training young water professionals in leadership and transdisciplinary competencies for sustainable water management in India

Basant Maheshwari; Dharmappa Hagare; Ricky Spencer; Jen Dollin; Jason Reynolds; Deborah Atkins; Roger Packham; Okke Batelaan; T. G. Sitharam; Yi-Chen Lan; Meenakshi Arora; Rakesh Kashyap; Suresh Kartha; Arumugam Sathasivan; Subhashisa Dutta

doi:10.1002/WWP2.12114

Training young water professionals in leadership and transdisciplinary competencies for sustainable water management in India

Basant Maheshwari, Dharmappa Hagare, Ricky Spencer, Jen Dollin, Jason Reynolds, Deborah Atkins, Roger Packham, Okke Batelaan, T. G. Sitharam, Yi-Chen Lan, Meenakshi Arora, Rakesh Kashyap, Suresh Kartha, Arumugam Sathasivan, Subhashisa Dutta

Western Sydney University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Young water professionals (YWPs) have a critical role in ensuring how water resources will be managed to contribute towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To address the challenges of climate change, population growth, and urbanization, YWPs require leadership skills, transdisciplinary competencies, technical knowledge, and practical experience. This article presents the India YWP training program, led by Western Sydney University and the Australia India Water Centre (AIWC), aimed at developing a cohort of skilled YWPs and nurturing the next generation of water leaders in support of India's water reform agenda and the National Water Mission. The program engaged 20 YWPs, consisting of an equal gender representation, selected by the Ministry of Jal Shakti from various water management agencies and departments across India. The 11-month training program was designed to be transformative and interactive, and it used an online platform comprising online lectures, mentoring, and project-based learning facilitated by the AIWC team. The training methodology focused on engaged learning, incorporating online workshops, Situation Understanding and Improvement Projects (SUIPs), online group discussions, and mentoring. The SUIPs provided a platform for YWPs to work in pairs, receiving guidance from AIWC members, enabling them to develop practical skills and knowledge in realworld contexts. The program effectively enhanced participants' capacities in project planning, design, implementation, and management, while fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills by adopting transdisciplinary approaches. Furthermore, participants demonstrated improved leadership, project management, time management, and communication skills. The training helped YWPs to equip them with a holistic perspective and stakeholder-focused mindset to address diverse water challenges from a holistic and long-term standpoint.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	300-314
Number of pages	15
Journal	World Water Policy
Volume	9
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/WWP2.12114
Publication status	Published - Aug 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. World Water Policy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Policy Studies Organization.

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2023 The Authors. World Water Policy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Policy Studies Organization. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Keywords

transdisciplinary ap
Australia-India Water Centre
water management
leadership development
training
young water professionals

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1002/WWP2.12114

Cite this

Maheshwari, B., Hagare, D., Spencer, R., Dollin, J., Reynolds, J., Atkins, D., Packham, R., Batelaan, O., Sitharam, T. G., Lan, Y.-C., Arora, M., Kashyap, R., Kartha, S., Sathasivan, A., & Dutta, S. (2023). Training young water professionals in leadership and transdisciplinary competencies for sustainable water management in India. World Water Policy, 9(3), 300-314. https://doi.org/10.1002/WWP2.12114

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title = "Training young water professionals in leadership and transdisciplinary competencies for sustainable water management in India",

abstract = "Young water professionals (YWPs) have a critical role in ensuring how water resources will be managed to contribute towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To address the challenges of climate change, population growth, and urbanization, YWPs require leadership skills, transdisciplinary competencies, technical knowledge, and practical experience. This article presents the India YWP training program, led by Western Sydney University and the Australia India Water Centre (AIWC), aimed at developing a cohort of skilled YWPs and nurturing the next generation of water leaders in support of India's water reform agenda and the National Water Mission. The program engaged 20 YWPs, consisting of an equal gender representation, selected by the Ministry of Jal Shakti from various water management agencies and departments across India. The 11-month training program was designed to be transformative and interactive, and it used an online platform comprising online lectures, mentoring, and project-based learning facilitated by the AIWC team. The training methodology focused on engaged learning, incorporating online workshops, Situation Understanding and Improvement Projects (SUIPs), online group discussions, and mentoring. The SUIPs provided a platform for YWPs to work in pairs, receiving guidance from AIWC members, enabling them to develop practical skills and knowledge in realworld contexts. The program effectively enhanced participants' capacities in project planning, design, implementation, and management, while fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills by adopting transdisciplinary approaches. Furthermore, participants demonstrated improved leadership, project management, time management, and communication skills. The training helped YWPs to equip them with a holistic perspective and stakeholder-focused mindset to address diverse water challenges from a holistic and long-term standpoint.",

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author = "Basant Maheshwari and Dharmappa Hagare and Ricky Spencer and Jen Dollin and Jason Reynolds and Deborah Atkins and Roger Packham and Okke Batelaan and Sitharam, {T. G.} and Yi-Chen Lan and Meenakshi Arora and Rakesh Kashyap and Suresh Kartha and Arumugam Sathasivan and Subhashisa Dutta",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. World Water Policy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Policy Studies Organization.",

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Maheshwari, B , Hagare, D , Spencer, R, Dollin, J, Reynolds, J, Atkins, D, Packham, R, Batelaan, O, Sitharam, TG, Lan, Y-C, Arora, M, Kashyap, R, Kartha, S, Sathasivan, A & Dutta, S 2023, 'Training young water professionals in leadership and transdisciplinary competencies for sustainable water management in India', World Water Policy, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 300-314. https://doi.org/10.1002/WWP2.12114

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T1 - Training young water professionals in leadership and transdisciplinary competencies for sustainable water management in India

AU - Maheshwari, Basant

AU - Hagare, Dharmappa

AU - Spencer, Ricky

AU - Dollin, Jen

AU - Reynolds, Jason

AU - Atkins, Deborah

AU - Packham, Roger

AU - Batelaan, Okke

AU - Sitharam, T. G.

AU - Lan, Yi-Chen

AU - Arora, Meenakshi

AU - Kashyap, Rakesh

AU - Kartha, Suresh

AU - Sathasivan, Arumugam

AU - Dutta, Subhashisa

PY - 2023/8

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N2 - Young water professionals (YWPs) have a critical role in ensuring how water resources will be managed to contribute towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To address the challenges of climate change, population growth, and urbanization, YWPs require leadership skills, transdisciplinary competencies, technical knowledge, and practical experience. This article presents the India YWP training program, led by Western Sydney University and the Australia India Water Centre (AIWC), aimed at developing a cohort of skilled YWPs and nurturing the next generation of water leaders in support of India's water reform agenda and the National Water Mission. The program engaged 20 YWPs, consisting of an equal gender representation, selected by the Ministry of Jal Shakti from various water management agencies and departments across India. The 11-month training program was designed to be transformative and interactive, and it used an online platform comprising online lectures, mentoring, and project-based learning facilitated by the AIWC team. The training methodology focused on engaged learning, incorporating online workshops, Situation Understanding and Improvement Projects (SUIPs), online group discussions, and mentoring. The SUIPs provided a platform for YWPs to work in pairs, receiving guidance from AIWC members, enabling them to develop practical skills and knowledge in realworld contexts. The program effectively enhanced participants' capacities in project planning, design, implementation, and management, while fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills by adopting transdisciplinary approaches. Furthermore, participants demonstrated improved leadership, project management, time management, and communication skills. The training helped YWPs to equip them with a holistic perspective and stakeholder-focused mindset to address diverse water challenges from a holistic and long-term standpoint.

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VL - 9

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JO - World Water Policy

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Training young water professionals in leadership and transdisciplinary competencies for sustainable water management in India

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Open Access - Access Right Statement

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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