Someone once said that collaboration is the DNA of the knowledge economy.
This month, Elisa and I visited the WIOA office in Shepparton to commence putting in place the collaborative initiatives we agreed to do in the MoU we signed with WIOA and VicWater a few weeks back. One of those initiatives is for IWN to fund and support an Operator led trial at the WIOA Conference in Bendigo on 28-29 February 2024. Operators will have the opportunity to recommend to IWN a trial with an exhibitor of their choice at the WIOA Conference. The chosen trial will be announced at lunch on the second day of the conference. Stay tuned for more details.
💧The Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge (WMCIC) has been a tremendous success with winners to be announced at an event on 5th December at Melbourne Water Docklands. We are grateful for the valuable contributions made by the judges, the IWN Champions and all the submitting organisations for making the Challenge such a success. We are also grateful to Melbourne Water for supplying the venue for the Winners Event. Please see the link in the article below to register for the Winners Event.
Last week, the IWN Leadership Team got together to commence the creation of the IWN Strategy for the next few years. It really is a privilege to be working with such a passionate, engaged and smart team of people that represent our members. The theme of our discussion was about how we create capacity within IWN to continue to grow our contribution to sector transformation, innovation and delivering member and partner value. We will continue to work on our member led strategy over the next 8 weeks and I look forward to sharing the outcome of that with you early in 2024.
I had the pleasure this week of attending the inaugural Victorian Bioenergy Network Conference in Ballarat. We heard about the tremendous work that’s happening in the Bioenergy space and the opportunity that Bioenergy presents for reducing the release of sequestered carbon in fossil fuels. Of interest was the opportunity for Biomethane to substitute fossil gas and the substitution of high quality Biodiesel in heavy fleet – biodiesel that is produced right here in Victoria at Just Biodiesel. Congratulations to Ragini Prasad and her team for a tremendous conference. https://www.linkedin.com/company/victorian-bioenergy-network/
Earlier this week, we had our IWN Champions Workshop. We celebrated the success of the WMCIC, explored what is means to be a leader of innovation and farewelled our outgoing Champions who have completed the 2-year program. With deep appreciation for their contribution to IWN we thank:
Tanya Rhyne (Wannon Water)
Pete Houston (South Gippsland Water)
Jacinta O’Connor (Goulburn Valley Water)
David Box (Coliban Water)
Michael Hatherly (Gippsland Water)
Chloe Dawson (Westernport Water)
Jason Hiskins (Melbourne Water)
As we say, nobody really leaves IWN – we look forward to welcoming you all back as a Program or Deputy Program Manager in (very near) the future.
Take care, be safe and have a great month ahead. Cheers JC
IWN Champions Workshop November 2023
L-R (Back) Ben McCallum, Chloe Dawson, Alex Rowen, Stephen McCormick, Martin Ankor, Michael Hatherly, Steve Kugele, Julian Tully.
L-R (Front) Cameron Geddes, Pete Houston, David Box, Jacinta O'Connor, Tanya Rhyne, Liz Modrich, Kate Bardy, Jason Cotton
and the finalists are.....
The 2023 Water Minister's Climate Innovation Challenge has been a platform for ground-breaking ideas and initiatives aimed at transforming the water industry's approach towards sustainability. On November 17, the anticipation soared as the six finalists presented their ambitious projects to our esteemed panel of judges.
💧 GWMWater (Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water) – Donald Community Power Plant 💧Central Highlands Water - Gas Substitution Feasibility Study for Ballarat 💧Yarra Valley Water /Barwon Water / North East Water - Meta-analysis of low carbon cement alternatives for water industry applications 💧Barwon Water - Cellulose recovery from wastewater 💧Greater Western Water - Above & Beyond: Elevating Environmental Stewardship through Drone Technology 💧South East Water - Scope 1 emissions direct & real-time monitoring on aerobic digester
We extend our gratitude to all 13 water corporations that submitted entries for this years Challenge. Your dedication to fostering innovation in water and climate sustainability is commendable.
Join us for the Award Ceremony! Save the date: December 5, from 2:30 to 3:30 pm, at Melbourne Water (Docklands). This is where the much-awaited announcement of this year's winners will take place.
Would you like to be part of this momentous occasion? Reach out to us at enquiries@iwn.org.au to reserve your spot.
To the finalists, we wish you the best of luck! Your passion and dedication to shaping a more sustainable future for water management are truly inspiring.
PYROCO Mark II Trial 2023
Following the successful technical validation trials in 2021, the PYROCO Mark II trial is assessing the potential of developing functionalised biochar products derived from FOGO and Biosolids feedstocks to strengthen the Victorian biochar supply ecosystem. Trial partners RMIT University, DEECA, South-East Water, IWN, Greater Western Water, East Gippsland Water and Westernport Water will co-pyrolyse various blended feedstock formulations to create biochars of different characteristics and use cases enabling a techno-commercial feasibility assessment of the approach.
PYROCO is a first of its kind in Australia, developed by RMIT University, it uses high temperatures to destroy pathogens, PFAS, microplastics and pharmaceutical contaminants in biosolids creating biochar with applications ranging from agricultural soil amendment to the creation of advanced carbon materials.
Group of visitors and stakeholders at PYROCO Mark II trial on Friday 24 November.
Ben McCallum
IWN's Barwon Water Champion
From Darwin to Victoria, Ben has studied and worked in lots of beautiful locations. He feels lucky to be living in one such beautiful location in Victoria, working at Barwon Water which encompasses the Otway’s and Great Ocean Road. Ben enjoys live music, camping trips, mountain biking and spending time with his young family. Ben joined IWN in 2021 and became the IWN Barwon Water Champion at the beginning of 2023.
In this months webinar we heard from Hayden Morrison at Next World. This technology can be described as “the Netflix of VR safety training”; offering an ever-expanding library of exciting off-the-shelf VR training courses which are closely modelled from the relevant Unit of Competency and give a unique player-perspective on the subject which is unattainable in the real-world.
The report on our VR Safety Training trialat Barwon Water, Central Highlands Water, East Gippsland Water, Greater Western Water & Melbourne Water is now available also.
Please contact us at enquiries@iwn.org.au if you'd like a copy of the report or link to the Webinar.
At IWN, we are looking for passionate people who are genuine about identifying solutions to drive innovation across our industry. You don’t need to be a subject matter expert, simply bring your enthusiasm to our fabulous program. These volunteer roles involve about four hours/month. If you'd like to see a position description or have a confidential discussion with us, please get in touch via our enquiries email. We are looking for our next...
We have just added to our suite of program offerings. We are looking for new Program Managers and Deputy Program Managers to head up these two new programs and develop the roadmap for their success.
Safety innovation
Program Manager and Deputy Program Manger
Contaminants of concern
Program Manager and Deputy Program Manger
Expressions of Interest
NDT Testing opportunity using Voliro drone
Following on from our successful IUAI Drone trials at TasWater and Lower Murray Water, we now have an opportunity to trial the latest Voliro Drone Innovation with IUAI for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) of assets.
We are looking for IWN Members to partner with IWN and IUAI to conduct these trials. Please contact us at enquiries@iwn.org.au to register your interest.
Working groups
Our working groups have finished for this year. Thank you to all those who participated and contributed to the delivery of another successful year.
We will be doing a Program Refresh for 2024 - so keep an eye out for next years invitations.
For Members - you can learn more about what we are doing at IWN and be a part of our Working Groups by registering for the Knowledge Hub.
Hon Harriet Shing MP, Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality, and
Akii Ngo, International and multi-award winning Disability, Inclusion and Gender Equity Activist.
IDPwD is a United Nations observed day aimed at increasing public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability. Special guest speaker Akii Ngojoining to share their story. Akii is deeply passionate about disability rights, intersectionality, inclusion and co-design. They are a proud, young, disabled, transgender non-binary and LGBTIQA+/Queer person of colour.
We are also honoured to have the Hon Harriet Shing MP, Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality join us to share her thoughts on International Day of People with Disability and the role that the water sector can play in supporting equality.
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