On the 13th of November we were delighted to host the seventh graduation of the Victorian Waterway Management Emerging Leaders Program, at the Arthur Rylah Institute in Melbourne. For us here at the Australian River Restoration Centre, it is the most rewarding day of the year, as we get to see and hear how people have grown over the year in confidence, capability and connection.
My confidence, leadership, public speaking skills, resilience, and adaptability have grown due to this program. – Mentee
I also got a lot from the in-person sessions around leadership styles, approaches and just some great tips and tricks for facilitating, which I have subsequently used! – Mentor
In the morning we spent time reflecting on what had happened during the year with our ‘what happened’, ‘so what’ and ‘what next’ questions.
In the afternoon we were joined by invited guests who heard from each of the mentoring partnerships about their waterway project and mentor / mentee experience. Each partnership and the projects they explored together are listed below:
Imy Arton- Powell (Mentee DEECA) & Paulo Lay (Mentor GWW)
Applying Traditional Owner values in a government setting in a culturally sensitive way
Alexandra Lacey (Mentee CCMA, right) and Geraldine Plas (Mentor MW, left)
Growing leadership in the Barwon catchment and beyond
Drew Holzheimer (Mentee NECMA) and Elisa Hunter (Mentor SRW)
Exploring stakeholder engagement, project management and mentoring
Elsa Burnell (Mentee WGCMA) and Ross Hardie (Mentor Alluvium)
Trialing structures to enable lakebed vegetation to re-establish
Gavin Prentice (Mentee GHCMA) and Alyssa Bagley (Mentor DCCEEW)
Increasing collaboration between agencies to achieve better outcomes for wetlands
Patrick Fagan (Mentee NCCMA, left) and Terry Korodaj (Mentor CEWH, right)
Exploring self-determination as a key part of co-design with First Nations Peoples
Jake Van Dam (Mentee CCMA), right and Keith Chalmers (Mentor VEWH, left)
Increasing environmental water knowledge, confidence and leadership in stakeholder engagement
Harsha Fowder (Mentee DEECA, right) and Megan O’Brien (Mentor YVW, left)
Developing water literacy around the use of recycled water
Nicholas Longden (Mentee VEWH) and Bron Batch (Mentor DCCEEW)
Assessing how environmental entitlements perform under climate change and identify risks and recommendations
Katrina Rast (Mentee NCCMA) and Steve Wickson (Mentor DEECA)
Analysis of drought and salinity plans to inform agency strategies
Being away from a corporate office ensured full focus. All content and activities were exceptionally well thought through and delivered. There was a good balance of content, socialisation, discussions, activities, homework and field trips. – Mentor
The program provided a rare opportunity of bringing together a range of professionals across the water industry from different specialisations and at different stages of their careers and provided a setting where we could relate comfortably as peers. – Mentee
Each mentor and mentee received a graduation certificate, with a special award made to Peter Vollebergh for all his support of the program.
If you would like to know more about what this great group of people got up to, here is a summary of their journey over 2024:
The Victorian Waterway Management Emerging Leaders Program held its first workshop for the year at beautiful Torquay in southern Victoria. Twenty participants got together for the first time to meet each other, establish their mentor-mentee relationships and set forth on their mentoring journey over the next eight months.
The group set off on into the field to see the confluence of the Leigh and Barwon River catchments, to learn about the work underway to improve this part of the system, in a part of the landscape under increasing demands for public access. We were then treated to a walk, talk and estuary watch demonstration at Lake Connewarre, a Ramsar listed wetland of international significance. We were extremely grateful to the Corangamite CMA team, particularly Hannah Wiggs and 2023 Emerging Leaders Alumni Rose Jackson, Henry Cooper and Deirdre Murphy, who greatly assisted in planning and leading the day.
Workshop two saw us re-connect on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, where mentors and mentees had the chance to share their journeys to date and strengthen connections across projects. The group also had a range of leadership styles introduced to them, as well as the concept of above and below the line thinking – an approach which shows how external influences can impact a person’s capacity to think creatively and problem solve. This workshop also included the concept of positionality, a First Nations concept which shows how who we are and where we’ve come from shapes our view of the world, including our conscious and unconscious biases. Understanding your positionality will improve your engagement with stakeholders across the water industry.