Seeking Common Ground Through Shared Water Dialogues: Waterlution's Karen Kun Shares Insights (Part 1 of 2)

For a growing number of Canadians, Waterlution has been a source for inspiration, creative thinking, network building and above all, an instigator for rethinking. When you attend a Waterlution event, you can certainly bring pre-conceived ideas, but those will likely shift once you leave. That is, of course, by design. Waterlution creates facilitated sessions on a variety of issues related to water. Through facilitated dialogue, groups from industry, academia, policy makers and the public engage in a meaningful way.

The Waterlution experience can give insights into successful stakeholder engagement, especially essential to companies looking to strengthen relationships with their critics. I spoke with Karen Kun, Director and Co-founder of Waterlution, to learn more about the organization's humble beginnings, accomplishments and expanding beyond Canada's borders.

Starting Point
Co-founded by Karen Kun and Tatiana Glad, Waterlution has been around for eight years. Kun recalls: "As trained facilitators, Tatiana and I had a passion for facilitation techniques and how those can be harnessed to solve problems." She also remembered observing the deep connection to water among indigenous communities in South America - something that seemed rather lacking back home in Canada. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg - also known as Rio+10 - things began to come together. While there, Kun observed that water was not a prevalent topic, yet it is the most vital, connecting element of all. The two decided water should be part of the conversation and Waterlution was born.

Click here to continue reading and comment

Meirav Even-Har is a Justmeans staff blogger. She reports on Canadian CSR issues. Meirav is an independent sustainability consultant and writer working in Toronto, Canada.