Viennahydro 2024 - Women's panel moderation
Viennahydro 2024 saw an exceptional panel with women only, under the title "Diversity in Hydropower- from facts to action" on 13th November, 2024.
Once more in a Viennahydro venue, I was honored to act as the moderator of a panel. This time, I had brought together in the name of GWNET a round of women, presenting facts and figures from the ESMAP/World Bank report on "Power with Full Force | Getting to Gender Equality in the Hydropower Sector", but also figures from the corporate world: GWNET member Andritz Hydro's HR head and specialists were open about their gender, diversity and inclusion figures and strategies. On top of facts and figures and actions undertaken, women in the panel were from a wide range of players in the sector - corporate, free-lancing consulting, operators, academia, equipment suppliers. Each woman reported on her experience as a female in a male-dominated sector and how she got motivated to select such a profession and join the hydyropower sector, to make her career path over time in her work place. At the end, all panelists encouraged all women and men alike to go forward on this path towards equity, work on biases, but also introduce programs for women to be fostered better - through mentoring and networking as main drivers for change.
Thank you for a very enrichting session to the panelists Fernanda Smith Bastian Brunetto, Theresa Obernhuber and Maria Collins of Andritz Hydro, Susanna Jungmeister of Vienna University of Technology, Babette Schwarz of Voith Hydro, Susanne Thum of Hydro-Consulting, and Tanja Janisch of Verbund!
