Event Overview
The 10th Annual Canadian Water Summit , Partnering to Innovate in the Blue Economy, took place from May 29-31, 2019 at the Blue Mountain Resort in Georgian Bay, Ontario. The event brought together water leaders to discuss how partnerships and collaboration are driving innovation in the blue economy.
Day One: Association Roundtable and Opening Reception
The 2019 Canadian Water Summit kicked off with an Association Roundtable on May 29, 2019. The session, which was moderated by Water Canada’s Andrew Macklin, brought together a dozen water associations from across Canada for a facilitated discussion on how to break down silos, prevent overlap, and search for common interests to develop partnerships.
The Association Roundtable was followed by an opening reception where attendees started, continued, or finished their Water Week at Blue experience.
Day Two: Main Program
The Canadian Water Summit’s Co-Chairs, Katherine Balpataky from ALUS and Steven Liss from Ryerson University, kicked off the event with Water Canada’s Andrew Macklin.
The event kicked off with a plenary session on Progress through Partnerships: Advancing on Sustainable Development Goals. Speakers included: Zafar Adeel from Simon Fraser University and the Pacific Water Research Centre, Dan Kraus from the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and Manjusha Sunil from the Water Research Commission. The discussion focused on where Canada is at with supporting the global mandate to support the number six (clean water sanitation) of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2015.
This discussion was followed by a session on Dismantling Barriers to Achieve Water Innovation. Speakers included: Water Industry Expert Kerry Freek, Dan Draghici from Global Affairs Canada, Dan Mathieson from the City of Stratford, Hein Molenkamp from the Water Alliance, and Jon Radtke from Coca-Cola North America. The public and private stakeholders in this session discussed how they are challenging traditional barriers, forming partnerships, and using innovative ideas to change the way we think about managing water.
The morning plenary sessions were followed by a keynote speaker, Scott Kress from Summit Team Building, over lunch. He spoke tothe power of partnerships and teams through the lens of his many exciting journeys around the world, like climbing Mount Everest.
The afternoon sessions during the Canadian Water Summit examined a number of topics, including: how artificial intelligence and Internet of Things are being used for practical water infrastructure investments; how small communities are ensuring their residents have access to clean, safe water; and, how public and private stakeholders are financing flood resilience.
The main programming concluded with a discussion on plastics and water with Christopher Hilkene from Pollution Probe, Patricia Corcoran from Western University, and John Coyne from Unilever.
Day Two: Networking Reception and Water’s Next Awards
Day two of CWS concluded with a networking reception, which was followed by the Water’s Next Awards where <#> water leaders celebrated the accomplishments of this year’s finalists and award winners.
A press release showcasing the award winners is available here. Profiles and pictures of the award winners will be included in the July/August 2019 issue of Water Canada.
Day Three: Fireside Chat and Women in Water Workshop
Day three kicked off with a fireside chat between Chris Hilkene, chief executive officer of Pollution Probe and the Honourable Rod Phillips, Ontario’s minister of the environment, conservation, and parks.
The fireside chat was followed by a Women in Water workshop, which has become a popular tradition at the Canadian Water Summit. Katherine Balpataky from ALUS led a discussion with Robin Kind from the Ontario Clean Water Agency, Sheila Rider from Stantec, and Claire Oswald from Ryerson University. The workshop focused on identifying actions that can be taken to support women in the water sector, as well as increase diversity.
Social Media
Twitter, our primary social media platform, @CdnWaterSummit has 4,500 followers. The event’s primary media partner, that was responsible for communicating the events of the Canadian Water Summit, is @CanadianWater and has approximately 16,500 followers.
- From May 29–31, between the two channels CWS generated over 47,000 impressions.
- Overall, the average of engagement of the Summit period, from 29–31, accounted for 23% of the total points of engagement with Water Canada’s twitter audience for the month.
- This three-day period accounts for 22% of the total impressions for May.
- Tweets from June 20–22 accounted for 30% of all retweets for the month of May.
