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NWP, a connector of worlds

Bianca Nijhof was the Managing Director of the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) between 2019 and 2022. With a background in landscape ecology and ample knowledge and working experience in sustainability, she stepped into the Dutch water sector to help catalyse global water impact. On the occasion of NWP’s 25th anniversary, we spoke to Nijhof about key moments in NWP’s history that occurred under her wing.

Bianca Nijhoff
Contact
Mai Ramos
Mai Ramos
Project Manager Marketing & Communications

“I led NWP for three years, representing it on international stages, creating space for cross-sectoral collaboration, and ensuring that the unified voice of the Dutch water sector was being heard.”

Nijhof’s overarching and cross-sectoral knowledge and experience enhanced NWP’s positioning of the Dutch water sector inside and outside the water world. During her tenure, for instance, NWP took a solid step in strengthening the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. A session on Saline Water and Food Systems co-hosted with Netherlands Food Partnership (NFP) during Amsterdam International Water Week 2021 led to the launch of the Saline Water & Food Systems Partnership in March 2022. This Partnership strengthens the cooperation between the Dutch water and agrifood sectors to address the challenge of salinity in low and middle-income countries.

Global pandemic

NWP had to overcome challenging times during her tenure, including a global pandemic. “I recall that adopting a work-from-home-only policy needed us to put out more feelers so that we could gauge how colleagues were coping and whether they felt connected to their work and the organisation. That was a challenge indeed. However, I am a positive person by nature and try to see the opportunities in given circumstances. Thus, despite the uncertainties of that time, I see that COVID-19 opened new opportunities internationally for NWP as we needed to go digital.” 

With the coronavirus pandemic hitting hard, NWP was forced to re-invent itself and prove its agile management to keep its members and network together. As Nijhof recalls, NWP invested in going digital and designed numerous opportunities for the sector to connect and interact through virtual events, webinars, seminars, and the like. “It was a shift where NWP entered spaces that it would not leave anymore. I do remember the LATAM team really taking off in local engagement which led to the LATAM Webinar Series that is still hosted regularly. This virtual shift also allowed NWP to join in events that we would otherwise not have been visible in.”

Organisational transformation

Parallel to the uncertain times that the pandemic brought, NWP underwent an organisational transformation which, among other things, led to its current corporate branding, and the ‘Water. Driven. Future.’ motto with its ‘Water. Driven. Business.’ and ‘Water. Driven. Society.’ variations. As the Managing Director at the time, Nijhof was involved in this process. “This was an exciting piece of work. Having variations was an important corporate decision. Whereas Water. Driven. Future. is a powerful statement that can be used to stress the importance of water for a sustainable future, its variations can be used to amplify NWP’s focus on society and businesses when needed. This versatility is what I like the most about the motto.”

NWP’s 20th anniversary also took place during Nijhof’s tenure, but there was no celebration due to the pandemic. Five years later, NWP will host a festive commemoration of its 25 years of service. When talking about this milestone, Nijhof is happy that NWP can celebrate its anniversary this time as “It is important to pause for a while to acknowledge everything that the organisation has done, and it is also a good opportunity to send out the message of the importance of water again.”

Protecting our water resources and ensuring water security is still a challenge. The Netherlands, with its water expertise, can play an important role in achieving this. To Nijhof, “This is where NWP is playing a part, now and in the future."

In addition, she mentions that the theme of water is increasingly being integrated into other global agendas, including climate, nature and inequality, and how this integration is a major opportunity, including for NWP. “In its corporate video, NWP talks about how water is a connector of worlds, and it absolutely is! Like water, NWP is about connecting worlds. I hope that NWP keeps connecting the diverse water sector for years to come, while also bridging the water, climate, nature, and human worlds. The water world brings valuable expertise and solutions, but collaboration across sectors and themes that bring organisations, businesses, governments, NGOs, and academia together is also needed. This twofold approach of ‘connecting worlds’ is NWP’s unique selling point.”

Bianca Nijhof

''This twofold approach of ‘connecting worlds’ is NWP’s unique selling point.”

Bianca Nijhoff

NWP Director between 2019 and 2022