SWP Youth

SWP Youth in a nutshell 

Created in 2019 under the impetus of the Youth Strategy of the Swiss Water Partnership, SWP Youth aims at:

  • enabling and empowering youth to participate in water-related issues
  • creating an active community of young water professionals, students and future water leaders;
  • acting as a platform for launching youth-led initiatives.

SWP Youth is an initiative for and by young people, aiming at strengthening the involvement of youth in the water for development sector, both in Switzerland and globally. SWP Youth is therefore a platform where youth can organise and participate in trainings, mentorships and other capacity-building activities.

Become a member of SWP Youth, for free
Join SWP Youth
Support SWP Youth initiatives
See how you can support us

Latest news

  • SWP Youth Newsletter is out now!

    As we look back at 2023, we are proud of your accomplishments! In this newsletter, you will read about our activities of 2023 and discover our plans for this year, which is SWP Youth’s 5th anniversary

  • Winning Projects of the 2023 Water Challenge

    The Water Challenge 2023 culminated into 6 winning projects from 6 different countries. Discover them here!

  • SWP Youth at Stockholm World Water Week 2023

    Akanksha Jain (SWP Youth Coordinator) had the privilege of participating in discussions that shed light on two crucial aspects of our water future: Circularity and Youth Engagement.

Show more

New events

SWP Youth Networkshops@EBP Zurich

11.04.2024
 | 8032 Zürich

Join our favourite in-person event! For the 5th time come to discuss real-world water challenges…

Winners Ceremony Water Challenge 2023

27.10.2023

Join us online for the winners’ ceremony of the SWP Youth Water Challenge 2023!

Show more

Youth initiatives

Every year, our number of youth-led initiatives is growing and flourishing across the planet. Do you want to be part of the community? We highly encourage SWP Youth members to launch their own initiatives! We can provide seed funding, advisors and Secretariat support for your project. Of course, you are also highly encouraged to join an already existing initiative.

Contact us

Are you no longer a Youth? You can still contribute by supporting the initiatives.

See how you can support us
  • Networkshops

    Students and young professionals under 30 years are invited to exchange with water experts to gain insight into their everyday business. This initiative links young water talents in Switzerland to professionals of the Swiss water for development sector.

  • Global Youth Movement for Water

    SWP Youth is part of the Global Youth Movement for Water, a coalition of organisations active in the water sector. The Movement gathers youth-led structures to pool resources to increase young peoples’ bargaining power. The intention is for youth to influence water management decision making and stimulate concrete actions towards their representation.

  • SWP Youth Water Challenge 

    Our annual call for proposals provides seed funding and mentor guidance to the most innovative and promising youth projects. These youth-led projects from across the world are accompanied during one year.

  • Water Stressed – the SWP Youth Podcast

    Water stressed is a podcast by SWP Youth about global problems related to water. In every episode, our hosts Francesco Campo and Donato Patrissi discuss their fears about a quickly changing world. Through interviews with experts and professionals, they try to understand the challenges of the future and if we should, indeed, be water stressed.

  • Matura Mentoring

    Discover water by researching some of the most fascinating aspects that the aquatic sector has to offer. SWP members make their expertise available to secondary school students interested in exploring water subjects in their graduation works.

  • Stockholm Junior Water Prize – Switzerland

    The Stockholm Junior Water Prize – Switzerland recognizes young students between 15 and 20 years old who have conducted outstanding school projects written on water and sanitation issues with proven environmental, scientific, social, or technological significance.

People

The SWP Youth is organised in a decentralised structure consisting of members, Youth coordinators, a Youth Focal Point within the Secretariat, and Youth advisors.

Members

SWP Youth members are between 15 and 30 years of age, mostly based in Switzerland (either for residency, studies, research or regular professional activities) as well as abroad and interested in Water for Development. SWP Youth currently has more than 300 members.
Become a member of SWP Youth

Youth Coordinators

Youth Coordinators act as a representation, coordination and communication point between the SWP Youth and the SWP steering board, secretariat and member organisations.

Akanksha Jain

Scientific Assistant at the Chairs of Urban Water Management
ETH Zürich

Esther Greenwood

Eawag
SWP Youth

Johnmark Nyame Acheampong

Doctoral Researcher (SnowHydro Group), Faculty of Science at Charles University, Prague

Lena Xue

PhD student in Environmental Engineering at Eawag

Nadira Mukhamejan (Candidate)

PhD researcher, GEDT, UNIGE

Marisa Boller (Candidate)

Project Officer Water Supply and Treatment at Sandec, Eawag

Youth Advisors

Youth Advisors are individuals from SWP member organisations that are above 30 and volunteer to provide guidance and feedback to SWP Youth members.

Abishek Narayan

Water Researcher at EAWAG and World Bank

Secretariat

SWP Youth benefits from the support of a Youth Focal Point for the coordination, the member management, and the organisation of activities and events.

Delphine Magara

Youth Focal Point Swiss Water Partnership Junior Water Expert
Skat Consulting Ltd.

Become a member of SWP Youth

Anyone fulfilling the following criteria is welcome to become a member of SWP Youth:

  • be between 15 and 30 years of age
  • have a base in Switzerland (either for residency, studies, research or regular professional activities)
  • be interested in Water for Development

To become a member of SWP Youth, you do not need to have affiliation with an existing SWP member organisation. However, if you are already a part of one such member organisation, you are encouraged to join individually as a member of SWP Youth. 
Note: There is no membership fee for joining SWP Youth.

Fill in the below application form to become a member of SWP Youth.

Apply for membership

Our sponsors

We kindly thank the following sponsors for their support.