IWA Launches Cyprus Young Water Professionals Chapter.

A new IWA Young Water Professionals (IWA YWP) Chapter has been formed in Cyprus on 11 September 2020. This new IWA YWP chapter in Cyprus is open to all water (related) professionals age 35 and below who are registered members of the Cyprus Water Association and who are also either IWA members or want to get engaged with the International Water Association. Dr Katerina Charalambous, Chair of the new Chapter, gives us insights on the motivation and set-up of this new IWA YWP Chapter.

Q: What was the motivation for setting up an IWA YWP Chapter in Cyprus?

The Cyprus Young Water Professionals (CYWP) Chapter was set up through and with the support of the Cyprus Water Association (CWA), which is the governing member of the IWA in Cyprus. The CWA envisioned the set-up of a YWP Chapter to support its younger members and promote the aims and objectives of the IWA. Young members of the CWA had formed the national CYWP founding committee almost two years ago and decided to set in motion the formal set-up of the Chapter within the global network of water professionals of IWA. Until the establishment of the CYWP there had not been a support network for YWPs in Cyprus.

Q: What are your aims and objectives for your chapter and what activities do you plan to do?

The aim of the Chapter is to advocate and empower YWPs in Cyprus by supporting and promoting their involvement within the CWA and the IWA. We want to provide a hub for information and networking, as well as opportunities to contribute to their personal development and knowledge. We reach out to all YWPs from industry, academia, research and government organisations and we aim to contribute to an improved and sustainable water sector in Cyprus.
The Chapter plans to increase the involvement of YWPs in our network in Cyprus, as well as connect and collaborate with other IWA YWP Chapters around the globe. We have already organised and participated in various events over the last year and a half, such as seminars, social evenings and site visits. Our plans for the coming year, despite the challenging times the world is confronting this year, include article writing and organisation of online events and other actions to engage more young people in our network and promote the CWA and IWA. We want to connect our national members with the water professionals of the IWA network and foster knowledge exchange and career inspiration and support.

Q: How can YWPs reach out to you, and get involved?

For anyone wanting to reach out to us, you can subscribe to our mailing list by sending an email and follow us on Facebook. You can also visit our website and connect with us on IWA Connect. You can also of course reach out to us through the overall IWA network and IWA Young Water Professionals community.

For more information about IWA YWP Chapters, including their structure, set-up and activities please contact Laura White (Leadership Engagement Officer at IWA secretariat).

Meet the founding committee of the IWA YWP Cyprus Chapter (CYWP):

Dr Katerina Charalambous (Chair of the IWA CYWP Steering Committee) is a Water and Environmental Consultant. She has a background in civil and environmental engineering and her doctoral thesis focused on stormwater management. Her current involvement in the water sector focuses on the effective and efficient management of water utilities, transitioning of water distribution networks from intermittent supply to continuous (24×7) supply and the reduction of non-revenue water.

Constantinos Constantinou (Vice-Chair of the IWA CYWP Steering Committee) is the Managing Director of M&I Constantinou Ltd, a building and infrastructure contractor company in Cyprus. Constantinos holds a MBA and a M.Eng. in Civil Engineering. Through his career, he has accumulated experience in the construction and maintenance of an array of water related infrastructure such as dams, boreholes, potable water networks, sewerage networks, water and wastewater treatment plants.

Pavlos Pavlou (Secretary of the IWA CYWP Steering Committee) is a Research Engineer at the KIOS Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence of the University of Cyprus. His research interests focus on the design, monitoring, risk analysis and optimisation of water distribution networks. He holds a B.Sc. in Civil/Environmental Engineering (UCY/Cyprus) and an M.Sc. in Environmental/Urban Water Engineering (DTU/Denmark).

Maria Achilleos (Member of the IWA CYWP Steering Committee) is a Technical Engineer (Chemistry) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment’s Water Development Department. She studied Chemistry (B.Sc.) and Bioanalytical Chemistry (M.Sc.) at the University of Cyprus. She is a PhD candidate and her research activities focus on Managed Aquifer Recharge specifically with recycled water. Her work involves chemical monitoring of aquifers which are being recharged with recycled water.

Maria Christofi (Member of the IWA CYWP Steering Committee) is a water systems engineer in the British Forces Cyprus. She holds a B.Sc. in Geography and a M.Sc. in Civil Engineering. Her experience in the water sector is related to potable and non-potable water treatment and she has worked on various projects including reservoir and aquifer management, reverse osmosis process and wastewater treatment plants.

 Dr Yannis Dialynas (Member of the IWA CYWP Steering Committee) holds a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. in Water Resources Engineering and a Diploma in Civil Engineering. He served as a Lecturer in the University of Cyprus Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 2018 until 2020. Currently he works in various water resources engineering projects in Greece and Cyprus and he is also affiliated with the Nireas International Water Research Center. His research and professional activity focus on scientifically and socially significant problems including water resources sustainability, climate change, and natural hazards.

Ioannis Tseliepis (Member of the IWA CYWP Steering Committee) is an Electrical Engineer. He has a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering. His involvement in the water sector focused on the maintenance of desalination plants, as well as small reverse osmosis units for water treatment.