IWA Leaders gathered in Prague late in September for various institutional meetings including the Board of Directors, Strategic Council and Governing Assembly (including the Annual General Meeting). It also provided an opportunity for IWA’s newly appointed Executive Director, Kala Vairavamoorthy, to meet with IWA members.

Key decisions made by the Board of Directors included endorsing Toronto, Canada, as the host venue for the 2019 International Young Water Professionals Conference, endorsing the winners of the 2017 IWA Development Awards (to be announced soon) and selecting Toronto, Canada as the preferred host venue for the 2022 World Water Congress & Exhibition.

New members of the Strategic Council met for the second meeting of the Council in 2017. Amongst the key points and discussions, a new Task Group on Membrane Bioreactor Modelling and Control was approved.

The Governing Assembly formally adopted a number of resolutions as part of the Annual General Meeting. These included the 2016 Statutory Accounts and, significantly, the re-election of Diane d’Arras as President of IWA for a further 2-year term, commencing after the World Water Congress & Exhibition in Tokyo in September 2018. This will mean a seamless transition for Diane who commenced her first term as President in October 2016, and will end her second term at the close of the World Water Congress & Exhibition in Copenhagen in 2020.

The active role of Young Water Professionals in all of the meetings was noted, particularly in supporting the organisation of a joint session between the Strategic Council and the Governing Members on the topic of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).