Alliance For Water Stewardship North America Inc

GOAL 1: THE AWS SYSTEM IS ROBUST AND CREDIBLE. IT ENABLES, RECOGNISES AND REWARDS GOOD WATER STEWARDSHIP.THE PROCESS TO REVISE THE AWS INTERNATIONAL WATER STEWARDSHIP STANDARD (AWS STANDARD), WHICH BEGAN IN LATE 2016, PROGRESSED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE, ELECTED FROM AWS MEMBERS. ONLINE CONSULTATIONS WERE HELD DURING THE YEAR ON ITERATIVE DRAFTS OF THE REVISED STANDARD, AS WELL AS WORKSHOPS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, INCLUDING AUSTRALIA AND INDIA. THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MET TWICE IN PERSON, IN MARCH IN CANADA AND JUNE IN THE NETHERLANDS TO PROCESS INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS. THESE MEETINGS, TOGETHER WITH REGULAR INPUT FROM OUR ELEVEN TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS, ENABLED US TO REACH A POINT AT THE END OF 2018 IN WHICH ONLY A SMALL NUMBER OF SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES REMAINED UNRESOLVED. AT OUR AGM IN NOVEMBER 2018, OUR MEMBERS AGREED THAT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OF THESE ISSUES WHETHER TO INCLUDE "SAFE WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH) FOR ALL" AS A SEPARATE OUTCOME OF THE STANDARD SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO A MEMBER BALLOT IN ADVANCE OF FINALIZING THE REVISION PROCESS IN EARLY 2019. THIS FOLLOWED A RECOMMENDATION BY A SPECIAL WORKING GROUP ON WASH THAT WAS SET UP TO PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE.DURING THE SECOND HALF OF 2018 WE ALSO BEGAN A PROCESS TO ARTICULATE THE THEORY OF CHANGE FOR THE AWS SYSTEM. THIS PROCESS, WHICH ALSO INVOLVED CONSULTATION WITH MEMBERS AND PARTNERS, AIMS TO SPELL OUT HOW THE DIFFERENT PARTICIPANTS IN, AND COMPONENTS OF, THE AWS SYSTEM WILL COMBINE TO DELIVER THE CHANGES IN THE WORLD THAT WE WANT TO SEE.MODIFICATIONS TO ARRANGEMENTS UNDER WHICH SPECIALIST SERVICE PROVIDERS CAN ACHIEVE AND MAINTAIN AWS ACCREDITATION WERE BROUGHT IN AT THE BEGINNING OF 2018, AIMING TO STRENGTHEN THE COHERENCE AND PROVIDE A MORE SOLID FINANCIAL BASIS OF THIS PROGRAM. SIMILARLY, WORK BEGAN IN 2018 TO ENABLE AWS TO ISSUE PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS TO INDIVIDUALS WHO CAN DEMONSTRATE REQUIRED LEVELS OF COMPETENCE TO ADVISE AND SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AWS STANDARD.TRAINING WAS PROVIDED BY AWS STAFF, REGIONAL PARTNERS AND ACCREDITED SERVICE PROVIDERS TO 215 PEOPLE IN 2018, IN LOCATIONS INCLUDING AUSTRALIA, INDONESIA, CANADA, CHINA, CHINA-TAIWAN, COSTA RICA, INDIA, PAKISTAN, PERU, SOUTH AFRICA, SCOTLAND AND USA.TRAINING WAS ALSO PROVIDED TO IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS THE BETTER COTTON INITIATIVE, AN ISEAL MEMBER STANDARD SYSTEM AND AWS MEMBER. THE AIM WAS TO SUPPORT TO SUPPORT BCI IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW WATER STEWARDSHIP PRINCIPLE IN THE BCI STANDARD. IT IS ALSO CONSISTENT WITH OUR COMMITMENT TO SUPPORT OTHER STANDARD SYSTEMS WHERE WATER IS A CRITICAL ISSUE. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE WORK WE UNDERTOOK, WITH SUPPORT FROM EDEKA AND WWF-GERMANY, TO DEVELOP A MECHANISM THROUGH WHICH GLOBAL GAP CERTIFIED FARMS TO PROGRESS TO AWS CERTIFICATION IN A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY. WITH THIS APPROACH WE AIM TO MAKE WATER STEWARDSHIP MORE ACCESSIBLE TO SMALLER FARMERS IN WATER STRESSED AREAS OF THE WORLD.THROUGHOUT 2017 WE MAINTAINED OUR COMPLIANCE WITH ISEAL CODES FOR STANDARD SETTING, ASSURANCE AND IMPACTS. GOAL 2: WATER STEWARDSHIP IS A GLOBALLY RECOGNISED BRAND THAT DRIVES PARTICIPATION.DURING 2018 AWS MEMBERSHIP GREW IN BOTH NUMBERS AND IN DIVERSITY. TOTAL MEMBER NUMBERS INCREASED FROM 90 ORGANIZATIONS AT THE START OF THE YEAR TO 110 BY THE END OF 2018. AMONGST OUR NEW MEMBERS ARE ORGANIZATIONS ENCOMPASSING DIVERSE SECTORS, SIZES AND SCOPES. THE RESULT IS AN INCREASINGLY VIBRANT MEMBERSHIP THAT IS DELIVERING MORE VALUE TO MORE ORGANIZATIONS. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AWS STANDARD GAINED TRACTION IN 2018, AS DID COMPANIES WILLING TO MAKE PUBLIC COMMITMENTS TO AWS CERTIFICATION. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CERTIFIED SITES AT THE END OF 2018 WAS TWENTY-ONE. INGHAMS SOMMERVILLE PLANT IN AUSTRALIA WAS RECERTIFIED TO PLATINUM LEVEL, AS WELL AS AN ADDITIONAL 4 GOLD LEVEL CERTIFICATIONS AND THE FIRST MULTI-SITE CERTIFICATION (IN CHINA).AS OUR NETWORK HAS GROWN, OUR WORK WITH KEY PARTNERS HAS YIELDED MORE RESULTS AND IMPORTANT INSIGHTS THAT WILL HELP US TO IMPROVE THE AWS SYSTEM. SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR WORK WITH PARTNERS INCLUDE:- WE SIGNED A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH SDC (SWISS AGENCY FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION) AS PART OF ITS NEW WATER STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM. THIS PARTNERSHIP HAS A SPECIFIC FOCUS ON 1. ENGAGING A LARGER AND MORE DIVERSE RANGE OF STAKEHOLDERS; 2. BUILDING A LIBRARY OF MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE ADOPTION OF WATER STEWARDSHIP BY DIFFERENT GROUPS, AND 3. DEEPENING COLLABORATION WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ENGAGED IN WATER STEWARDSHIP. THE FUNDING ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PARTNERSHIP HAS HELPED US TO INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF THE AWS TEAM.- OUR TRI-LATERAL PARTNERSHIP WITH EDEKA AND WWF-GERMANY HAS ALREADY PROVIDED CRITICAL LESSONS TO INFORM HOW THE AWS STANDARD CAN BE APPLIED IN AGRICULTURAL CONTEXTS. A MAJOR MILESTONE WAS ACHIEVED IN 2018 WHEN EDEKA SUPPLIER EL ESPARRAGAL BECAME THE FIRST AWS CERTIFIED SITE IN EUROPE. - A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WAS SIGNED WITH GLOBAL GAP WHICH WILL PROVIDE THE BASIS TO INCREASE OUR COLLABORATION ON WATER STEWARDSHIP IN AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD.- WE SIGNED A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL WATER ASSOCIATION (IWA), AIMING TO STRENGTHEN THE LINKS BETWEEN THE AWS NETWORK AND IWA'S GLOBAL NETWORK OF WATER PROFESSIONALS.- UPDATED REGIONAL PARTNER AGREEMENTS WERE FINALIZED WITH WATER STEWARDSHIP AUSTRALIA AND THE WATER COUNCIL TO ENABLE THESE ORGANIZATIONS TO REPRESENT AWS IN ASIA PACIFIC AND NORTH AMERICA RESPECTIVELY. THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT CONTINUED TO SUPPORT OUR FLAGSHIP EVENT, THE GLOBAL WATER STEWARDSHIP FORUM. 2018 WAS THE THIRD TIME WE HELD THIS EVENT IN EDINBURGH AND SAW INCREASED PARTICIPATION AND RESULTED IN A VALUABLE SET OF LESSONS TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER STEWARDSHIP AND HELP US ADVANCE OUR NEW GLOBAL STRATEGY.IN ADDITION TO OUR OWN GLOBAL WATER STEWARDSHIP FORUM, AWS STAFF WERE HAD SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS AT SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT GLOBAL EVENTS DURING 2018, INCLUDING THE 8TH WORLD WATER FORUM IN BRAZIL, STOCKHOLM WORLD WATER WEEK, THE IWA WORLD CONGRESS IN JAPAN AND THE GLOBAL BOTTLED WATER CONGRESS IN FRANCE.ARRANGEMENTS FOR LICENSING THE AWS BRAND WERE FINALIZED IN 2018, INCLUDING THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH ON-PRODUCT CLAIMS CAN BE USED BY AWS CERTIFIED SITES. THIS INCLUDES A CLAIMS POLICY AND PROCEDURE, ARTWORK AND LEGAL AGREEMENTS BETWEEN AWS AND OUR REGIONAL PARTNERS. THE AWS LOGO WAS SUCCESSFULLY REGISTERED AS A TRADEMARK IN THE UK AND APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED FOR PROTECTION IN 25 OTHER JURISDICTIONS VIA THE WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION. GOAL 3: AWS HAS THE FINANCIAL CAPACITY AND PEOPLE CAPABILITY TO DELIVER GOALS 1 & 2 AND BUILD GLOBAL PARTICIPATION IN THE AWS WATER STEWARDSHIP SYSTEM.OUR ORGANIZATIONAL INCOME INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR, LARGELY AS A RESULT OF SECURING THE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH SDC, MENTIONED ABOVE, AND AN INCREASE IN MEMBER NUMBERS AND RELATED INCOME. DURING THE YEAR WE ALSO RECEIVED FUNDING FOR SPECIFIC PROJECTS FROM- EDEKA/WWF-GERMANY, TO TAKE FORWARD WORK WITH AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS WITHIN EDEKA'S SUPPLY CHAIN, AND TO INCREASE OUR COLLABORATION WITH GLOBAL GAP;- DEG (GERMAN INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY), TO PROVIDE TRAINING FOR DEG INVESTEE COMPANIES IN COSTA RICA AND PERU, AND: - ISEAL ALLIANCE, TO EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY OF A COLLABORATIVE PROJECT IN AFRICA WITH OTHER ISEAL MEMBER STANDARD SYSTEMSTHE INCREASED INCOME ENABLED US TO BOOST OUR STAFF CAPACITY IN KEY AREAS. THE FOLLOWING APPOINTMENTS WERE MADE DURING 2018 - ASHISH BHARDWAJ AS INDIA COORDINATOR- SARAH WADE AS OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR- MONA KARRAOUI AS TRAINING AND ACCREDITATION MANAGER- CHRISTINE CAREY AS HEAD OF KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING- ED PINERO AS HEAD OF STANDARDS AND ASSURANCE (REPLACING RICHARD ROBERTSON)OUR REGIONAL REPRESENTATION WAS SOLIDIFIED IN ASIA PACIFIC AND NORTH AMERICA THROUGH THE ABOVE-MENTIONED REGIONAL PARTNER AGREEMENTS WITH WATER STEWARDSHIP AUSTRALIA AND THE WATER COUNCIL. AWS'S WORK IN AFRICA HAS BEEN LED BY WATER WITNESS INTERNATIONAL (WWI). IN SOUTH ASIA WE APPOINTED A NEW INDIA COORDINATOR AND RECRUITED A PAKISTAN COORDINATOR TO BEGIN WORK IN EARLY 2019.