2023 IWA Water and Development Awards launched

Pictured above: Award winners at the Opening Ceremony of the IWA 2022 World Water Congress & Exhibition, including the Water and Development Awards for Research (Damir Brdjanovic, second from right) and Practice (Africa Sand Dam Foundation, representative far right)

The call for nominations is now open for the 2023 IWA Water and Development Awards! The awards recognise excellence, leadership and innovation in the water sector, and aim to encourage the sustainable management of water in low- and middle-income countries. 

Are you aware of outstanding research or practice that has led to demonstrable impact in low- and middle-income countries in the field of water and sanitation? Nominate this contribution now for the IWA Water and Development Awards. 

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 organisations or government. 

There are two categories of the IWA Water and Development Awards: 

• The 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. 
• The 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 open to research of all types, as well as early-stage business projects that are not yet market ready. 

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. 

For more information, details on criteria and past winners, and to submit nominations, please visit this page.