Engaging International Perspectives through EWRI for a Global Profession

The diverse range of global water and environmental issues must be acknowledged to deal effectively with the challenges facing their management in the decades ahead (McDonald et al. 2011; Postel 2010). Nationalistic attitudes are giving way to international collaborations to resolve such problems. These issues require productive interaction among professionals in different parts of the world to most efficiently share approaches and collaborate on innovative developments. One role that professional societies can play is providing opportunities for such collaboration through their activities, including conferences. However, due to imbalances in income and resources in different countries, it can be difficult for colleagues in developing countries to attend meetings in more developed countries. The Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) of ASCE has been increasing international collaboration in global issues, such as water availability, climate change, and pollution control, by partially supporting competitively selected international fellows from developing countries through the Visiting International Fellowship (VIF) program to attend EWRI’s annual World Environmental and Water Resources Congress.

Since the program was established, it has successfully increased participation of water resources and environmental professionals from developing countries in EWRI conferences and promoted sustained professional and cultural exchange. Since 2001, 30 fellowships have been awarded to professionals and students from 19 different countries. One of the reasons for the program’s success is that each fellow has a United States- or Canada-based host who is an ASCE or EWRI member who often shares common research and professional interests. The VIF program focuses on the annual EWRI congress, where fellows give technical presentations in sessions specific to their area of expertise, providing the best possible opportunity for technical exchange and networking with their global peers. To take advantage of the range of global perspectives represented by the fellows as an educational opportunity for the EWRI community, each year the fellows have been featured in a panel discussion to compare their countries’ water issues. All fellows also participate in networking and intellectual exchange outside of the congress through seminars, meetings, other professional visits, and cultural tours, often arranged by their hosts, to promote sustained professional and cultural exchange. Through these activities the fellow and host explore opportunities for joint collaboration with appropriate partners, including research projects, coauthored papers or books, or extended visits in either country. The program requires some specific activities at the EWRI congress but otherwise offers flexibility to tailor an itinerary that serves the interests of the fellow.

In preparation for the 10-year anniversary of the VIF program, the VIF committee administered a survey of past fellows and hosts to learn how the experience affected them professionally, whether they continued to collaborate, and whether they returned to additional ASCE events. After 12 weeks, survey responses were retrieved from 72% of fellows and 46% of hosts contacted.

The results of the survey help assess the success of the VIF program. Almost 20% of fellows reported attending EWRI congresses beyond the one initially attended. This is substantial, given the expenses involved in attending such conferences for participants from developing countries. Survey results also indicated that the program’s other major objective of promoting sustained cultural and professional exchange is being met. Most past fellows and hosts remain in contact by exchanging information about projects or activities being developed in their organizations, maintaining contact for collaboration on publications, visiting each other’s countries since the fellowship, and becoming close friends with people met during the fellowship.

The feedback from the fellows and hosts regarding their experiences with the program has been overwhelmingly positive. A few highlights from the survey responses regarding international collaborations follow:

From these positive experiences, it is evident that the VIF program is achieving its objectives of increasing the participation of water resources and environmental professionals from developing countries at EWRI conferences and promoting sustained professional and cultural exchange. Professionals have long valued conferences as venues for meeting colleagues and sharing innovations and efforts to further career development, research, and project design and implementation. By investing approximately $5,000 per year in the VIF program and using volunteer time through a standing committee, EWRI has broadened its global reach in addressing pressing water and environmental issues. Although the financial investment goes to the colleagues in developing countries, United States- and Canada-based ASCE/EWRI members also benefit professionally and intellectually from the exchanges. The EWRI VIF program has fostered international collaborations that promote sustainable exchange. Fanning the flame of international collaboration through programs such as the VIF program at other professional conferences and organizations will continue to provide opportunities for engaging needed international perspectives toward addressing persistent global water and environmental challenges.