Chantal Mambu
Office and Finance Administrator
Having worked in the ISWA General Secretariat for the past 4 years, I had heard about how big of an event IFAT was. Still, I was taken aback when I first arrived at the Messe München and had to walk a long, long way to ISWA’s booth in Hall A5. The place was huge! The booths in those halls were massive as well. It was really fascinating to see firsthand the scale of IFAT and how ISWA contributes to it.
I was at IFAT Munich from Wednesday, May 15th to Friday, May 17th, so, I might have missed the 2 busiest days of the week. However, I still got to meet many ISWA members, got to learn many new faces, explore the halls, and make new connections.
I also had the pleasure of joining the ISWA YPG session on Thursday morning, May 16th and meeting up with some of the YPG members. This session was hosted by the Hamburg Institute for Innovation, Climate Protection, and Circular Economy (Hiicce) in collaboration with ISWA, ISWA’s National Member in Germany (German RETech Partnership and DGAW), and IWWG (International Waste Working Group). Among the attendees were this year’s YPG Chair (Haniyeh Jalalipour), former YPG Chairs and Vice Chairs (Andrea Winterstetter – with her baby, our youngest YPG member! – and Aditi Ramola), Chair of YPG Working Group on Career Development (Pratistha Shrestha) and other YPG members, as well as non-members.
The session was kicked off by an opening speech from Aditi Ramola, and continued by presentations from Hiicce, IWWG, and the Chair of ISWA YPG, Haniyeh Jalalipour. After the presentations, we continued the discussion in the Conference Room while enjoying some treats and coffee/tea.
Other former YPG Chairs and Vice Chairs (Roland Thompson and Rae Chwee) were also at IFAT Munich as exhibitors but could not attend the session due to a schedule clash. The current YPG Vice Chair (Julio Raldúa Veuthey) was also present at IFAT Munich, but had to leave the event early.
Despite all the busy schedules, the YPG members still made time to meet and catch up at the ISWA booth. It was really great to meet everyone in person. At events like these, I’m always reminded of the same vision and mission that ISWA shares with a lot of visitors and exhibitors at IFAT Munich. One of the people I met said, IFAT is the Disneyland for us who share the same passion!
I am grateful that ISWA has brought me here to experience one of the biggest events at ISWA, and to connect with everyone at IFAT. I am also excited to meet up again soon at the annual ISWA YPG Online Conference on 27th July. For this event, ISWA YPG is also calling for abstracts. Submit yours before the deadline on June 27th. I hope to see you at the Online Conference!
