Two internships at the European Water Partnership

The EWP is currently looking for two interns to assist the Partnership in developing the numerous activities planned for 2009. Active, flexible candidates with good communication skills and an interest in water issues are invited to send a letter and CV to the EWP explaining how their skills and experiences would contribute to the work of the EWP.

As an intern, you will be working as part of the EWP team in Brussels in a highly motivating, international working environment in the heart of Europe. Specific tasks will be defined on the basis of your interest and skills, but will be focused on two major strands of activities:

1)  Communications

In its third year of existence, the EWP is putting a lot of emphasis on communication, both internally and externally. Internal communication refers to the communication within the Partnership itself (namely Members and Partners). The external communication addresses more generally all stakeholders on water (including general public, NGO’s, governments, business and research organisations). The new website and the electronic newsletter are important tools to implement the 2009 communication strategy.

Specific tasks of the intern include:

• Assist in the implementation of the communication strategy
• Complete and update the information on the EWP website
• Search for, edit and write news articles for the European Water News (www.european-waternews.com)
• Follow up the creation of a network of journalists and communications experts for the European Water News
• Set up the EWP electronic newsletter
• Elaborate EWP campaigns on the Euractiv website
• Promote EWP organised events
• Contribute to designing new visual and marketing materials

2)  Aquawareness - Water Awareness and Water Stewardship

The Aquawareness initiative was setup by the European Water Partnership (EWP) in
2008 to raise awareness on the current water challenges among all actors
(governments, NGOs, businesses and citizens) and to support the development and
implementation of sustainable water management. It consists of two main programmes:

The European Water Awareness Programme aims at raising awareness and initiating a culture of efficient and sustainable water use among citizens, industrial and agricultural users. It promotes enhanced information, education and training and presents adopted and applicable measures for sustainable water use.

The Water Stewardship Programme aims at supporting the development and implementation of adopted instruments for sustainable water management. It bridges barriers between sectors, promotes water as an integral part of policy and business agendas and promotes the creation of knowledge and transparency on production and consumption patterns.

As an intern you will assist in developing and managing these projects. Specific activities include:

For the Water Awareness Programme:

• General assistance in developing the programme.
• Research into existing activities and developing cooperation with them.
• Supporting ongoing modules organizationally and technically

For the Water Stewardship Programme:

• Support the general project coordination (communication, preparation of documents and presentations, planning and assisting in international meetings, etc.) in a multi-national project and in collaboration with leading companies and associations in agriculture, industry and tourism in Europe.
• Organisational and technical support for the four Working Groups of the Programme
• Editorial and logistic sustain of the monthly EWP-Stewardship newsletter
• Opportunity to get actively involved in the development of a European Standard for Sustainable Water Management in general, and for the sectors Agriculture and Industry / Business, specifically performing literature research.

Potential candidates are asked to explain in their cover letter which of these strands of activities would be most interesting to them and best fitting their capabilities and education. Specific tasks will be agreed with the two interns in such a way that the two major activities are covered.

Necessary qualifications:

• The candidate should be in the final phase of a university level educational programme, preferably in the fields of international relations, communications / journalism, environmental studies or water management.
• Interest in water, environment and European policy issues.
• Flexible, creative and active teamplayer. Self-motivated, positive minded and organised.
• Fluent in English, knowledge of other main European languages is a plus.
• IT skills: Outlook, Office and websearching. For the communication activities knowledge of website management is an asset
• Availability to start as off July 2009 for a period of 3-4 months (extension possible)

The EWP will pay a monthly contribution to living costs.

Contact

Please send your cover letter including your CV addressed to Harro Riedstra to h.riedstra@ewp.eu, clearly stating “internship application” in the subject line. The deadline for application is 19 June 2009. For more information please contact the EWP at 0032 2 735 0681 or visit the EWP website at www.ewp.eu.