How to make the most of Ozwater’22

Three days, 219 sessions, 200+ exhibitors, numerous social events and more than 4000 delegates – it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the amount on offer at Ozwater’22.

This year’s event is more special than most too, as the Australian Water Association marks 60 years of serving the water community.

While celebrating the achievements of the past six decades, Ozwater’22 brings together people from around the world to share ideas and inspiration that will help shape the next 60 years.

AWA President Louise Dudley said everyone attending Ozwater’22 was helping strengthen the sector.

“A unique feature of Ozwater is our members’ contribution to the program, whilst what makes the water sector distinct is its willingness to share, connect and inspire,” she said. “Ozwater offers an excellent platform to enable that connection of peers, sharing of expertise, inspiration, and opportunity to be inspired.”

Here are six key ways for delegates to make the most of their time at Ozwater’22.

• Plenary sessions
• Stream sessions
• Panel discussions and workshops
• The exhibition hall
• Poster presentations
• Networking and social events

Plenary sessions

Keynote speakers Dr Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann AM and Ashleigh Morris helped launch the conference this morning. 

Coming up tomorrow morning are Student Volunteer Army Chief Executive Sam Johnson, who will discuss using tech to boost old-school models of community, and Karni Liddell, one of Australia’s most successful Paralympic swimmers, to talk about the opportunities for diversity and inclusion in the water community.

On Thursday, delegates will hear from scientific futurist Dr Catherine Ball on the realities, risks and opportunities of the water industry as a target for cyber attacks, while Monash’s Professor Tony Capon will discuss the nexus of climate change, water and public health.

Stream sessions

With hundreds of speakers, every Ozwater’22 delegate has the ability to drill down into the themes and sub-themes of most interest to them.

Key themes include:

• Excellence in operations
• Asset management and project delivery
• Resilience and water security
• First Nations people knowledge and participation
• Safeguarding community and environmental health
• Achieving a circular economy
• People and culture, diversity, inclusion and equity
• Climate change and extreme events
• Delivering excellence in customer experience
• Communities of the future
• Leadership, governance and progressive regulation
• Rural remote and regional water
• International

All Ozwater’22 delegates will have access to technical papers on the conference proceedings page via the dedicated Online Platform. Delegates must make sure they have their smart badge with them at all times and tap into each session to receive instructions.

Delegates will also be able to receive a PDF copy of oral and pitch PowerPoint presentations at the end of the event.

Panel discussions and workshops

Each day, the sessions on offer after the afternoon tea break will take the form of workshops or panel discussions.

Workshops include the AWA Water Recycling Specialist Network presenting an Avoiding Day Zero Scenario Workshop, exploring what role recycled water can play in water security and resilience planning, or Urban Utilities facilitating a workshop on trade waste source control for contaminants of concern.

On the panel front, options include The Great Debate: Our Water Sector Needs More Leaders and Less Experts and Net-zero Emissions in the Water Industry – Where We Are and How to Get There?

The exhibition hall

Opening at 8am each day, the exhibition hall is a key spot for mingling, particularly during the day’s three allotted breaks, at 10.30am, 12.45pm and 3.15pm.

As well as an opportunity to mix with other delegates and more than 200 exhibitors, the hall will also be a key refuelling station, offering coffee, food and much more.

Poster presentations

Poster pitch presentations are short and snappy five-minute presentations that occur during the conference program. 

On top of their presentation, all posters are on display inside the Exhibition Hall for you to read in your own time. Electronic copies of the posters are also available for download on the Online Platform.

Networking and social events

A key tool to help delegates make the most of the event is the Online Platform. If you haven’t already accessed it, you can do so here.

The online platform can serve as a powerful networking tool. Once you have logged in and entered your details, head to the Edit Profile menu. Under the My Privacy setting, you will be able to make your profile discoverable.

Once this is enabled, you can:

• Use the Find tab in the Networking menu to browse other attendees
• Send and receive connections to other attendees
• Start 1-on-1 chats with other attendees, through the Chat feature

There are also many other options for networking, including Happy Hour tonight, the Gala Dinner and Australian Water Awards on Wednesday night, and the closing drinks on Thursday night.