Benefits of Participating

This challenge will enable the participants to work with other young professionals from different stakeholder organisations across the water sector and:

• gain an understanding of the perspectives and needs of other sector stakeholders
• develop their teamworking skills in a multi-stakeholder environment
• develop their personal network of contacts across the sector & utilise this network for their organisation's and their own benefit
  

Competition Criteria

Entries are invited from young professionals with a degree or equivalent qualification and with at least 1 year's experience of working within the water sector.

The competition will be open to entrants from British Water members only and will include:-

• Water Companies
• Regulators
• Tier 1 Consultants and Contractors
• Academics
• Supply Chain

Member organisations are asked to sponsor between 1-4 candidates to participate in this cross-sector team competition.

Your nominated candidates will be invited to register their interest and will then be considered for selection with the overall objective of making up diverse, multi-stakeholder teams†.

Challenge Theme

The theme for this challenge will be "The importance of nature-based solutions for a sustainable society".

Teams will be asked to identify and pitch an idea around the challenge theme.

We have invited expert speakers to present on this subject at the briefing event to help candidates develop their ideas around the topic.

Challenge Briefing

19 April 2023 | 3pm-7pm | WSP, Birmingham

Successful applicants will be invited to take part in a briefing session, where they will be given an outline of the challenge, including presentations from industry experts and examples of the topic.

Participants will then be assigned to their team, comprising 4 cross-sector members†.

Following the presentations, team members will be given two hours to introduce themselves to the rest of their team and to begin to develop their ideas and approach to the challenge over the coming weeks.

Teams will work together over the following weeks, to develop their idea and finalise their presentation to pitch at the final judging and awards, which will take place on 13th June 2023. It is expected that the challenge should not occupy more than 8-12 hours of candidates' time outside of the events.

Challenge Judging & Awards

13 June 2023 | 2pm-7pm | WSP, Birmingham

The teams will be invited to present their idea to the judging panel and audience at this event. This will be followed by the awards presentation, where we will hear from our keynote speaker.

The Prizes

Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The overall winning team will receive Amazon vouchers to the value of £100 per person. The winning team will also be invited to a lunch with a senior water industry figure.

Entry/Sponsorship Fee

Entry/sponsorship fee is £195 + VAT per person.

The Water Industry Forum operates as a neutral and independent subsidiary of British Water, providing a forum to enable multiple stakeholders to come together to share ideas and develop solutions. The entry/sponsorship fee will go towards the cost of running the challenge.

The fee will include:-

Your candidate's participation in the team challenge including attendance at the briefing event and judging/awards event

One free delegate place for each candidate's sponsor at the judging & awards event

Profile of your organisation in the awards event programme

The Prizes

Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The overall winning team will receive Amazon vouchers to the value of £100 per person. The winning team will also be invited to a lunch with a senior water industry figure.

Submit Your Nominations

Please submit details of your nominated candidates* by completing the online form which can be found here (please ensure you complete one submission form for each nominee). If you have any questions please email Alison Duka for further information.

*British Water Member organisations may submit between 1-4 candidate nominations.

Candidate Registration

On receipt of your nominations, we will invite the sponsored candidates to register by submitting a short form with brief details outlining:-

• Details of their qualification/s
• Their work experience in the water sector to date

Payment of the competition entry fee will also be required during the registration process.

† Where possible, nominated individuals will be allocated to a team of four, where each member represents a different stakeholder group. Where this is not possible, due to some stakeholder groups being over-subscribed, or when the maximum number of teams has been reached, unsuccessful nominees will be advised accordingly.