Throughout July we’re going to be spending some time focussing on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion within the Institute of Water and how we are driving the vision to ensure equality for all of our members.
Firstly, a few words from Institute of Water Chief Executive, Lynn Cooper:
“The Institute of Water is renowned for being inclusive and non-hierarchical: now I believe we can add diverse to that claim, as demonstrated at our Annual Conference in Glasgow last month.
Earlier this year we launched our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Policy. This was one milestone in our progress through a framework provided by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Science Council.
This month we take the opportunity to tell you more about the framework, our plans and how we compare with other professional bodies and with the industry we serve; who better to introduce you to this latest themed month than Robin Price, our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Champion?”
Robin Price, Vice President Science and Board Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Champion for the Institute of Water:
“I’m delighted to welcome you to our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Month. As Lynn says, we are proud to be known as a hugely inclusive Institute, striving to ensure that there are equal opportunities for all of our members. I sincerely agree with Lynn that our National Conference in Glasgow showcased an incredibly diverse array of speakers and formats – congratulations again to everyone involved!
Over the last 12 months, we’ve really moved forward with our work on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI), and throughout July we’ll be showing you what this has involved and the progress that we have made. We’ll promote our DEI policy, and let you know about the actions we are taking as a result of this policy. We have benchmarked ourselves against other professional bodies, and whilst we compare really well, there is always more to do; again we’ll share with you some of the work we’re carrying out to continue to move ourselves forward, and we’ll hear from experts in DEI issues. One of the areas we’ve been focussing on right across our Committees is the subject of ‘unconscious bias’; we’ll tell you much more about what unconscious bias is, and what we can all do to avoid it a bit later in the month.
One of the aims of our DEI Policy is to ensure that as an Institute, our membership is representative of the industry which we serve in terms of its diversity. We’ve done some work to understand this; the results make interesting reading, and again we’ll share these with you during this month.
Promoting diversity of approach and thinking, ensuring that we are viewed as an inclusive organisation, with equal opportunities for all members and staff are cornerstones of our Institute. I hope that you enjoy hearing more about the work we’ve been doing over the next couple of weeks.”
