Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | APRIL 2015 | 11 Industry leader Lynn Cooper, chief executive, Institute of Water "In the 1980s the engineer was king… but now it is more about getting the most from your assets." A long with the other utilities, water is o en talked about as facing a skills gap: how can it address the challenge of an ageing workforce, and meet the demands of a changing landscape, while there is a shortage of young engineers, scientists and technicians coming through with the right skills? However, Lynn Cooper, chief executive of the Institute of Water – the professional body that supports careers and learning in the sector – is surprisingly bullish about how the industry is responding to these perceived challenges. "I don't think there's that much of a skills gap; or at least, not one that we haven't had for the last 20 years," Cooper tells WWT. "I think if anything the water industry has adapted better than most to change. The ageing workforce has been a perceived issue for the last two decades, and yet we are still producing quality water and disposing of the wastewater. Yes, things change, technology has come on enormously, and it's important to keep your skills up to date. But I think there's not as big a skills gap as people might imagine, and the water companies are dealing with it really well." Nevertheless, one area where Cooper does feel the industry faces a sti‰ task is in adapting to climate change – the e‰ ects of which have been all too evident in the Š ooding of recent years. She says that not only does this require the industry to develop a new environmental skill set, but also more Œ nancial skills to build the right analysis of risk into its asset management. An accountant by profession, Cooper knows what she is talking about when she says the industry needs more economists and Œ nancial experts. She acknowledges that the skills needs of the industry have come a long way since she started her career. "Certainly the balance has changed. When I started in the water industry in 1983, the engineer was king. But now there's not as much engineering going on in the industry. It's more about squeezing the most out of your assets: yes, some of that is engineering, but it's also about innovation, and being smart with numbers." The Institute's professional registration scheme – in which members register as Engineer, Scientist or Environmentalist and can attain Chartered Status – reŠ ects these trends, with a growing number of environmentalists. Scientists are also a growth area: the ability to become a Chartered Scientist through the Institute of Water is still relatively new, with the Institute being licensed by the Science Council to award Chartered Scientist status in 2013. Learning and Mentoring Whether it is through its range of learning events, CPD, or its mentoring programme, the Institute aims to give professionals in the sector learning which is over and above the training they receive in their day job – o en taking the form of networking and exposure to di‰ erent

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