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The upcoming Clean Currents event is designed to be ‘for the industry, by the industry.’ With that objective in mind, the Clean Currents’ content development committee members and the NHA staff have worked for months to create a strong program that meets the education needs of the industry.
With the recent passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (which provides generational funding for the waterpower industry) — coupled with the industry’s need to promote and develop individuals to support a range of positions from entry-level to leadership — now is a critical time for education, connection, and professional development.
“We are really trying to be thoughtful about the learning needs of specific segments of the sector,” said Marla Barnes, vice president of member and industry engagement. “We recognize not everybody learns the same way or needs the same kind of information.”
“With that idea in mind, we have created ‘learning paths’ for a variety of types of workers,” Barnes said.
The content paths are as follows:
- Engineers
- Executive Leadership, CEOs
- Hydro Plant/Project Operations Superintendents or Managers
- Portfolio Managers/ or General Managers
- Regulatory Specialists
- Subject Matter Experts
- Young Professionals
These paths can help Clean Currents attendees plot out how to best shape their learning objectives, identify opportunities to network with waterpower industry peers, and share knowledge with other attendees.
EXPLORING THE ‘PATHS’ AT CLEAN CURRENTS
The ‘engineer’ path is designed around accessing focused, industry-driven content designed with mechanical, electrical, and civil engineers in mind. By taking deep dives into important fields relevant to specialization, engineers can learn about new innovations to solve ongoing and habitual problems. Additionally, this path helps attendees earn meaningful certification for professional development, with Clean Currents offering a total of 13.5 professional development hours.
The ‘executive leadership, CEO’ path will connect attendees to networking opportunities, forging relationships with other leaders. In addition, this path provides intel that will help improve a company’s ROI, learn additional business-building best practices from peers, and explore ways to finance a modernization program.
Included in this path are discussions about hot topics such as advancing the discussion of hydro workforce development, insurance and managing rising costs at hydro facilities, and environmental justice. Attendees following the ‘executive leadership, CEO’ path will discover opportunities to promote goodwill for their firms while also supporting employees.
The ‘hydro plant/project operations superintendent or manager’ path helps individuals discover how to solve specific problem at plants or projects. With a focus on how to improve operations, this path provides access to content about safety and licensing compliance and how to implement new technologies.
Included in this path are deep dives into important topics such as development of hydropower environmentally acceptable lubricants, operations and maintenance problem solving, and grounding methods at hydroelectric plants. In addition, Clean Currents offers 13.5 professional development hours to attendees.
The ‘portfolio manager or general manager’ path has a focus on how to improve an organization’s operations. Attendees on this path will access focused, industry-driven content that applies to their work, including topics on sales, budgeting, and networking.
With a focus on gaining insight into peer’s operations and approaches to shared problem, the ‘portfolio manager or general manager’ path connects attendees to deep dives into important topics such as workplace strategies to retain staff, end of life decisions for dam removal and license surrender, pumped storage development, and modernization solutions for aging infrastructure.
The ‘regulatory specialist’ path specializes in providing insights on both current and upcoming regulations. With an emphasis placed on connecting with peers to learn how others are facing, and solving, similar challenges, the ‘regulatory specialist’ will have the chance to converse with agency representatives in-person, opening new lines of communication.
The ‘subject matter expert’ path places an emphasis on sharing ideas with the waterpower industry to better generate interest in advancing said ideas. By taking advantage of a variety of educational topics related to waterpower, attendees on the ‘subject matter expert’ path will advance their own knowledge while engaging in excellent opportunities for networking.
The ‘young professional’ path provides deep dives into important topics designed to increase expertise while also providing guidance to enhance fledgling careers. Through connection with other young professionals and industry mentors, the ‘young professional’ path assists attendees at taking an active role in shaping the waterpower industry, ensuring that it has a leading role in the clean energy future.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about the content at Clean Currents, check out the detailed program schedule.
If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still plenty of time; here’s the link to registration.
