The call for nominations is open for the 2023 IWA Water and Development Awards.

International
Posted 12 months ago

The IWA Water and Development Awards recognise excellence, leadership and innovation in the water sector, with a particular focus on encouraging contributions to the sustainable management of water in low- and middle-income countries. The awards are judged by a panel of experts and are awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to research or practice that have led to demonstrable impact in low- and middle-income countries. The awards are presented every two years at the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition, although the most recent awards were presented at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition held in Copenhagen in 2022. Nominations are now open for the 2023 IWA Water and Development Awards. The call for nominations closes on 18 June 2023 at 23:59 BST (London time). The 2023 winners will be announced and receive their awards at the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition, 10-14 December, Kigali, Rwanda. 

The awards are open to individuals (IWA member or non-member) or organisations active in the sector. Eligible individuals/organisations can be drawn from practice, academia/science, consultancy, equipment manufacturers, NGOs and civil society, international organizations or government.

There are two categories of the awards, covering practice and research:

  1. The IWA Water and Development Award for Practice celebrates outstanding accomplishments in the practice of forward-thinking applications and solutions to advance clean and safe water and sanitation in low and middle-income countries. These solutions can range from specific technologies and infrastructure to innovative approaches that improve performance, efficiency and sustainability in operations and maintenance. The award also recognises social innovation, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship.
  2. The IWA Water and Development Award for Research recognises and promotes high-quality, impactful research. Research is the powerhouse of disruptive and breakthrough innovation. This award celebrates research that is challenging existing methods and approaches to create new opportunities in the area of sustainable water and sanitation in low- and middle-income countries. It is also open to early-stage business projects that are not yet market ready.

Process of Nomination and Selection

The call for nominations is now open through the following link: IWA 2023 Water and Development Awards Call for Nominations.

1. Qualified Nominators

The right to submit a nomination for the Water and Development Award is granted to Members of the International Water Association (IWA). The only exception is for previous Water and Development awardees (whether IWA members or not).

Important: self-nominations will not be accepted.

2. Award Criteria

The IWA Water and Development Award is in recognition of an outstanding innovation or contribution to science or practice which has led to demonstrable uptake/impact/influence at national, regional or international levels in low- and middle-income countries.

The nomination should therefore meet the following criteria:

Innovative The nomination should be creative and show that it brings unique or new solutions in the water and sanitation sector. It should feature new ideas that introduce change or improvement in existing practices.
Impactful The nomination should have demonstrable uptake, and show powerful effect and/or influence in the water and sanitation sector.
LMIC-Focused The nomination should be focused explicitly on, or have clear relevance for communities in low- and middle income countries.
Topical The nomination should relates to one or more of the following sub-topics: water supply and treatment (drinking water, wastewater), (on-site) sanitation, hygiene and health interventions, water resource management, financing, community engagement, community education, planning, capacity building, regulation/standards, institutional development operation & maintenance, management etc.

The awarding process

The International Water Association is responsible for the selection of the Water and Development Award awardees. The IWA Secretariat will advertise the beginning of the award process and receive nominations. IWA will also appoint a Jury consisting of six voting members who will evaluate the received nominations. After the judging process, the jury will present a proposal for final candidates to the Governance & Nomination Committee (GNC) of the IWA Board of Directors. The GNC will audit the nomination and judging process then endorse the winners once the process is proved satisfactory.

Note: The IWA will not make the nominations public. The restriction concerns the nominees and nominators, as well as investigations and opinions related to the award.

Key Dates

13 April 2023 – Online submission opens
18 June 2023 – Close of online submission
July 2023– Shortlisted candidates are notified
August-September 2023 – Supporting documents submission & judging process
10-14 December 2023 – Awarding ceremony in Kigali, Rwanda

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