04/04/2024
Co-designing with the cultural values of water for First Nations peoples
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We made it! The collective energy that has gone into every activity, workshop, field trip and presentation this year, is cause for celebration and reflection. On 7 December we gathered all of the International WaterCentre's networks including Queensland Water Modelling Network and the Flood Community of Practice to connect and reflect on a year we can all be proud of, and take a moment to look forward to 2023.
2022 has been a big year for everyone. From pandemic lock-downs at the beginning of the year, to multiple flood events across the state and country, to the loss of one of the sector’s most outstanding citizens and advocates in Mark Pascoe, we have faced a tough year. But our collective strength, commitment and drive to improve the impact of our efforts continues to bubble to the surface giving hope for better days ahead.
On 7 December we collected with our partners and friends from the International WaterCentre engagement team’s greater networks. There was a great turn out with 63 participants from across the sector in attendance including a fantastic showing of colleagues at Red Cross Australia, Hydrobiology, Australian Water Association, Aurecon, Griffith University and E2Design as well as others from across research/education, consulting, state government, water utilities and NRM groups.
On arrival at Queensland University of Technology, Gardens Point campus, P-block terrace, participants in the event were warmly greeted and asked to participate in the activity for the evening – collecting thoughts on what went well and what didn’t go so well in 2022 and ideas for 2023 activities. For every suggestion, participants entered into a draw to win a gift supplied by one our generous partners from Red Cross Australia, JB Pacific, E2Designlab, International WaterCentre (IWC), Thoughts Drawn Out, Hydrorock, Water Technology, and IWC Engagement team.
Participant ideas were handed to Hayley and Venetia from Thoughts Drawn Out and converted into a fantastic visual summary (see image below).
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Catered by our foodie partners at C’est Bon, guests enjoyed delicious refreshments and networking with a lot of happy faces in the midst.
For the QWMN Engagement team at IWC, 2022 saw us hold 13 online and in-person activities with close to 600 participants in our events. For the first time, 2022 brought the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander context to the conversation opening the door on what we anticipate will be a transformational partnership with Indigenous and non-Indigenous colleagues alike. We held multiple Navigating the Currents – Water chats at the beginning of the year, explored climate change forecasting in May, held an online Forum-style event in June, conducted a field trip to the Eastern Darling Downs and considered how models and decision making works with multiple case studies. Thank you to all those who have shown up time and time again to contribute to the discussions that lead our collective towards holistic, strategic improvement across the sector.
Midway through networking we paused to head inside and hear a couple of recorded presentations from Phil Duncan and Brian McIntosh before acknowledging our greatest supporters of the networks with a small token of gratitude. Thank you our great friends Collin Sivalingum (Red Cross Australia), Hayley Langsdorf (Thoughts Drawn Out), Adam Waters (AJW Media), Nicole Wheeler (Hydrobiology) and William Speirs (AWA) for your amazing support in helping bring the year that was 2022 to fruition.
From the IWC engagement team – Piet Filet, Brian McIntosh and Sarah Cochrane we would like to thank you all for contributing your knowledge and skills to the collective, for your generosity in sharing for the greater good and for your hope in imagining a brighter future. We wish you all a safe and joy-filled holiday break and look forward to gathering in the new year to continue to build on the energy we have already established and see 2023 through together.
