Reducing Water Wastage in the UK

The following are the undergraduate internships opportunities available at Waterwise:

1. Research

The student will research issues related to our work, such as climate change in the UK, greywater recycling, water conservation education in schools, etc. The scope of the research may be local, regional or international and may involve literature reviews, visits to the British library, interviews, meetings and fieldwork, etc. Depending on the scope of the research, the student will then present findings as a database, spreadsheet, table, report, etc that will feed back into Waterwise's activities and may not be published. Our research is targeted at many audiences such as the public and policy makers, so the tone and style of the final research output may be formal or informal.

Students who undertake this kind of internship are expected to have strong writing skills. Knowledge of a foreign language is a bonus but not essential.

2. Media and Communications

Activities include writing and issuing press releases, developing web content, designing and assembling press packs, writing articles and editorials for print etc. Other activities may include attending events like consumer shows, or designing T-shirts and other items for Waterwise distribution.

Students who undertake this internship are expected to have strong written and oral communication skills, and should be comfortable interacting with press over the telephone.

3. Policy
The student will follow government developments related to Waterwise's work, including Early Day Motions, parliamentary hearings and debates, elections etc. S/he will also summarise new government reports and conduct some policy research. The student may be asked to draft consultation responses and attend government meetings.

Developments at national, regional, and local levels will be focused on, including activities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Tasks related to EU policy and/or practice may also be given.

Students who undertake this internship are expected to have strong writing skills, the ability to summarise long documents succinctly, and should be comfortable attending meetings and parliamentary hearings on their own.

4. General
A general internship involves a variety of tasks drawn from the above three internship descriptions.

Students who undertake this internship must be proactive and enthusiastic in pursing their own interests.

What the student can expect

Because Waterwise is a small NGO, we ask that the student choose one of the options above so that we can ensure a Waterwise team member is available to work with the student one on one.

All internships are flexible so there is plenty of room to tailor activities to align with the student's interests and abilities. Once a student begins their internship, a workplan will be developed collaboratively between the student and their assigned Waterwise team member.

All undergraduate interns will spend some of their time on administration and office management tasks such as answering phones, filling and or helping prepare our annual conference. We consider these tasks essential to the overall experience of working for a small NGO, however we recognise that students do internships to gain experience in their field and therefore we do our best to make sure that such activities are kept to a minimum.

What we expect from students

Waterwise is a small but influential organisation. As such, we can only take on two or three undergraduate interns at a time and we expect that these interns are comfortable working independently. We also expect that students are comfortable answering telephones, attending meetings, and asking questions of Waterwise staff.

In the case of MSc projects we will work closely with academic supervisors to ensure that students have clearly defined projects that will have specific outcomes within the allotted timeframe.

For further information

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