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WATER EDUCATION AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTsimulating congressional action, young delegates of each countrywill gain awareness of global and regional water problems andgrapple with them. In addition, the APYPW will provide the youthswith an opportunity to experience the processes of the 7th WorldWater Forum, to be held in Daegu Gyeongbuk, Korea in 2015.The 100 APYPW youths are selected through an applicationprocess. They then choose their area of interest from a selection ofkey issues on global water challenges such as:• climate change and water storage/disasters• integrated water resources management/ecosystems and rivers• cities and urbanization/sanitation, wastewater and reuse• green growth/science and technology• food and agriculture/energy• right to water and Sanitation/Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) and sustainable development goals (SDGs)• governance/policy, legislation and institution/transboundarycooperation• education and capacity building/culture and indigenoussolutions.Among the participants of the second APYPW, the four mostpopular courses were:1. Climate change and water storage/disasters2. Integrated water resource management/ecosystems and rivers3. Cities and urbanization/sanitation, wastewater and reuse4. Governance/policy, legislation and institution/transboundarycooperation.With their agendas already selected, participants discuss the mainissues during the week of APYPW. They are split up into fourcommissions, each composed of different paired country delegates,to discuss the four issues. In addition to presenting theissues related to the commission theme, delegates present thewater issues of their designated country in pairs. This ensuresthat the process raises awareness of specific regionalissues and that delegates learn how to build consensusin their discussions.The commission sessions include group discussions,lectures by international water experts and field trips atlocal water-related facilities. Delegates learn the processof building consensus and creating their own declarationsas youth parliamentarians representing theirdesignated countries. The sessions enable them to freelyexpress their interests in regional water improvement,and they are given responsibilities for leading follow-upactions when they go back to their countries.Previous participants are already vigorously activein running regular web-based meetings and publishingyouth journals containing the results of their waterdiscussions. In addition, some APYPW delegates willtake part in the 7th World Water Forum in 2015,leading the way in making the voice of youth heardand becoming independent opinion makers on theinternational stage. For example, a speaker from thefirst APYPW has expanded his role and was selectedas one of three youth delegates by the World WaterCouncil in 2012.In two years, APYPW has boosted regional youth incontinuing their follow-up actions. It is expected tofurther expand its scope over the next year, to includecooperation with other international youth activitiesleading up to the World Water Forum in 2015,the target year of the SDG. Mutual cooperation withthe World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) andAsian Development Bank (ADB) Youth Forum willclosely link to the activities of the APYPW throughdifferent formats of cooperative work, such as regularImage: Korea Water ForumImage: Korea Water ForumAPYPW country delegates present the water issues of their designated countries andlearn how to build consensusSessions include group discussions where APYPW delegates freelyexpress their interests in regional water improvement[ 112 ]