Please note that this is an on-going project.
Project Description
The Pathway Program is the International WaterCentre’s globally focused water leadership development program. Comprised of three levels, the purpose of the Pathway Program is to provide an easily accessible, foundational leadership development program for water professionals and practitioners to strengthen their ability to exert influence and drive positive change in their projects and workplaces, and to address our most significant water-related challenges.
Level 1 of the Program commenced on 1 September 2025, and is an 11-week, interactive, online course that introduces participants to foundational leadership concepts and provides guidance and ‘leadership stories’ (i.e. short case studies and personal stories from distinguished water leaders) on how to address common leadership challenges in the water sector. Level 2 of the program will commence in March 2026 and is an optional level for water practitioners who have completed Level 1 and want to do more intensive work on their leadership capacity in partnership with an IWC leadership coach, including through designing, delivering and evaluating a challenging water leadership project over 9 months. Level 3, commencing also in March 2026, has a similar design to Level 2 and includes scoping, designing, delivering and evaluating a significant, leadership-focused capacity building event or project over 9 months to help enable other water practitioners to drive change.
Project Personnel and Beneficiaries
Water professionals and practitioners across all aspects of the water industry globally (water resource planning, sanitation services, ecological restoration, community resilience, energy/agriculture/food sectors).
Outcomes to Date
60 participants successfully completed Level 1 of the program in 2024, and 84 participants are currently enrolled in the 2025 delivery. Eleven participants also successfully completed Level 2 of the Program in 2025. They found the course valuable in blending theory with practical insights and how they can be a leader that influences social change. They also expressed how the program is transformative and a shift to paradigms of leadership and encouraged others to be part of the program if they wanted to grow as a leader in the water sector.
Project Significance
Leadership capacity across the water sector globally is needed to deliver on the goal of providing universal access to clean water and improved sanitation, to better balance the water needs of economics and societies with those of ecosystems, to clean up our waterways, restore our river basins and to adapt to the growing impacts of climate change. Water leaders across all levels of all organisations need to be encouraged and cultivated to connect, collaborate and drive change more rapidly than ever before.
The program will enhance the ability of water professionals and practitioners to drive positive change and deliver more sustainable forms of water management and enable many water leaders from around the world each year to help build the collective leadership capacity needed to address the world’s most significant water challenges and achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 6.