Turning ambition into impact
Watertrust has arrived at an important juncture of turning ambition into reality.
Until now, much of our work has been foundational, building the skills, knowledge and relationships necessary to catalyse breakthroughs in Australia’s water space.
Now, we are starting to see genuine impact from our work and as that progresses, we are keen to make the best use of the time and philanthropic gift that we have at hand. Using a considered, deliberative process has helped us to hone in on where we can have the most impact and produced an impact strategy which we will continue to refine.
“In building a foundation, we’ve purposefully been looking broadly and building trust.” Says Watertrust Australia’s CEO, Karen Hutchinson. “Moving forward we need to focus on the right place, choose the right projects and consolidate where we can have impact.”
“We now know where the impact zone is,” she says, “It's in the relationships, it's in existing problems that haven't been able to be solved and it's in places where government can't help but pay attention once you remove the deadlocks.”
Watertrust’s Impact Strategy was built by drawing from the knowledge and lived experience of those working in, and impacted by, water policy decisions over the past decades. Together the diverse group of knowledge holders deliberated, challenged each other and eventually identified a ‘sweet zone of impact’ to focus our work over the next five years. This zone covers water issues where conflict and low trust exist amongst individuals and groups, instances where important water issues are unresolved and situations where established processes have failed to address policy blockages in areas important to government water policy.
Karen says the work done on the strategy has confirmed where Watertrust is having impact and directed the organisation to focus on those areas.
“So far this process has said to us you're in the right place, do more of that.” She says.
“Choose the projects that are going to get government and communities enthused and already asking you to do more, and that's where we'll be going.”
After five years of operation, Watertrust is proud and excited to be demonstrating the value of the work it has done so far.
The strategy defines this as a position of consolidation and acceleration - where we are building on our foundations and taking it further.
“I'm really proud to say that we've moved into this stage.” Karen says. “Consolidate and accelerate means thinking very hard about where we're spending our time and resources and choosing those projects that have got the best opportunity for visible change. It means building tangible outcomes quickly to have that evidence trail.”
Over the next five years, Watertrust will focus on engaging with existing water related issues in specific geographies.
This is where existing policy deadlocks are often felt most keenly, where distrust between people with divergent interests and government play out, and where Watertrust’s approach has real potential to shift the dial.
By demonstrating through doing and providing proof of concept for processes that can lead to better outcomes, Watertrust will build a legacy in both the challenges it has helped resolve and the ‘know how’ to successfully confront those types of challenges elsewhere.
Want to know more? Call Karen via our office number: 0480 654 380
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