In the beginning, I was secretary in the board and in this role I for example initiated the monthly newsletter that is still being send out to our members. Back then, there were no regional groups – only regional representatives. Once we established the regional groups, I became member engagement officer. Here, I had the role of supporting and facilitating knowledge sharing across the groups. I was also the YWP representative in the Danish steering committee for the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in Copenhagen in 2022. Here, I was responsible for planting some of the seeds for the YWP activities that took place at the conference. Besides that, I’ve also planned a bunch of YWPDK events over the years, helped initiate the Next Generation Water Action events with DTU Skylab and facilitated the very first YWPDK award. Finally, I ended my YWPDK career as chair in the first half of 2022 until I went on maternity leave. Here, I handed over the torch to Nerea, who’s the current chair.

I feel that the network and I became adults together. During the time where I was active in the network, I think we both became much more professional. Reflecting about the question, I can also see that I cherished my own personal development and being given the opportunity to learn how to run a network, motivate people, facilitate workshops etc. in the beginning of my time in the board. Towards the end of my YWPDK career, the motivation had shifted, and I was increasingly enjoying the opportunity to support other young water professionals to grow and voice their opinion, for example through the Next Generation Water Action initiative where the participating YWPs reported how the event had helped put youth and water on the agenda in their home countries – that made me extremely proud.

I think it is impossible to capture in brief how much I have learned from being part of the network, and especially of the board. I think the greatest gift of the network is that it is one big playground where only the imagination determines what is possible and what can be learned. I’ve been allowed to go to events and presentations where I’ve really had my horizon broadened, giving me a much wider understanding of our sector. I have also learned to make strategies and facilitate workshops, I’m much more confident in speaking in public, better at idea generation, have learned a lot about communication, and have gained a huge network – just to mention a few. All these are things that I can apply directly in my daily job. To have obtained all these skills outside YWPDK would have been almost impossible.

I would here also like to take the opportunity to thank the people I’ve served with on the board for sharing your knowledge with me. I’m happy and lucky to call many of you my friends.

There are many amazing memories, so I will just highlight a single. In 2019, YWPDK was invited to give a keynote speech at the Malaysia International Water Convention in Kuala Lumpur about the role of YWPs. I was given the opportunity to represent YWPDK and ended up drawing the entire presentation by hand – a skill I had acquired at the previous YWPDK conference where we had a soft skill session about graphical facilitation. I also chaired a session at the conference and met with Malaysian YWPs who wanted to form a YWP chapter of their own. Such a great and inspiring trip!

I am sure that YWPDK will always be a relevant voice in the water sector – youth has so much to offer if they are just invited to the table. The network is in the hands of very capable young professionals, so I’m sure that it will continue to develop. The next big event that YWPDK is planning is the European YWP conference that will take place in Copenhagen in 2024 – I’m sure the YWPs that attend will have a blast and leave the conference with their backpacks filled with new friends and inspiration!