2026.06.05
Carolina Jaworski, Uniwater, new to the board
In connection with the Water Industry Association's spring meeting, Carolina Jaworski, Uniwater, was elected as a new member of the Water Industry Association's board. We asked Carolina what made her accept, what challenges she sees and what she believes is needed to overcome them.
– I am genuinely interested in contributing to the association's work and working on industry-wide issues. When I was asked, it felt natural to say yes – because I see that I can contribute with several different perspectives such as sustainability, profiling the industry and a small business perspective.
There are many important issues and challenges – everything from financing to how the focus on preparedness affects our industry. But the ones closest to me are climate adaptation, drinking water quality linked to our health, and skills supply.
Regarding climate adaptation, I see that there is a lot happening on the client side regarding requirements, but I wish there would be more dialogue and cooperation in that area so that we on the industry side can really help the municipalities achieve their climate goals. All the contractors I talk to say that they can deliver fossil-free and energy-efficient solutions if the customers request it, but then the customer must also know what they can demand. And to accelerate climate adaptation, I see that both sides need to have more dialogue in order to be able to collaborate even more.
I see the industry's supply of skills as a major risk to the overall delivery capacity for building the water infrastructure of the future. I believe that there are good opportunities to find the skills; there is a workforce and younger people who want nothing more than to work in a safe, socially important industry. But more effort is needed with marketing and information, matching and coordinating efforts such as trainee and mentor programs.
How do you see the future of sustainable and resilient water management?
Big and important question! For me, the sustainable and resilient water management of the future is about securing access to clean water in a time of great challenges – climate change, increased demands on water quality and a growing need to maintain and develop our water infrastructure.
This requires a focus on technical innovation, resource efficiency and circularity. And to succeed in this, we must also attract the next generation to the industry. The supply of skills is once again one of our greatest future challenges.
We also need to think more broadly about responsible water management. It is not just an environmental issue, but it is about health, quality of life, safe communities and competitiveness. So municipalities, water and sanitation organizations and businesses need to work together to drive development forward and show that sustainable solutions are smart, profitable in the long term and create jobs.
We warmly welcome Carolina Jaworski to the Water Industry Board!