Open for submissions: Water ChangeMaker Awards – Unveiling smart water decisions

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Beginning Monday, April 6, the Water ChangeMaker Awards is inviting submissions from teams and organisations that have shaped water decisions which have helped build climate resilience.

The Water ChangeMaker Awards, launched on World Water Day 2020 (March 22), is an initiative of about 20 partner organizations, convened by the Global Water Partnership (GWP), that will highlight how smart decisions are made to use and safeguard water, and how to protect communities from water-related hazards, such as floods and droughts and pollution-related challenges in the midst of climate change. The ChangeMaker Awards are unusual in that, beyond celebrating Awardees and their teams, the submissions will provide a basis for creating learning communities of topic-specific groups to collaborate and learn from each other.


Submissions are welcome in six languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. The submissions will be reviewed by an internationally recruited, independent jury led by water experts and supported by the GWP Technical Committee. The jury will evaluate submissions along four criteria:

  • Climate Resilience built through Water Decisions.

  • Magnitude and Longevity of Change.

  • Depth of Learning.

  • Breadth of Collaboration.

The water decisions that the Awards seek to recognise will have involved changing mindsets from inertia to action, speaking truth to power, and building new coalitions. They will have involved changing laws or policies, and mobilizing and inspiring others to collaborate.

The Awards Ceremony will take place in the context of a climate-oriented event where winners will have special access to leaders in the climate community and become part of a learning cohort. In addition, winning entries will be featured in a publication to be launched in 2021.

The Water Changemaker Awards are a contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Resilience Frontiers initiative. The initiative is funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and other GWP Financing Partners. More information: www.waterchangemakers.org

Global Water PartnershipAGWA