Introduction Asia and the Pacific is confronted with rising challenges in water resilience and security. Increasing climate risks, deteriorating water quality, urban sprawl, and resource scarcity are stressing already fragile water systems. For many communities, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized ones, these challenges translate into disrupted livelihoods, compromised health, and long-term development setbacks. One critical force in catalyzing solutions for water resilience has long remained underutilized: youth. With over 60% of Asia and the Pacific’s population aged 15–24 years old,[1] young people are not only inheriting water challenges, they are also driving innovative and community-based solutions. The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Strategy 2030 identifies water security and livable cities as key operational priorities. The Strategy 2030 Water Sector Directional Guide (2022) and ADB Civil Society Approach: An Operational Approach to Enhanced Engagement 2025-2030 (2024) outline the importance of meaningful youth engagement to deliver development outcomes. The Midterm Review of Strategy 2030 identified the need for a more inclusive approach, one that deepens engagement with marginalized sectors of society to build resilience and catalyze delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. Recognizing this, ADB fully integrated the Asia and the Pacific Youth Symposium within its flagship knowledge-sharing event, the ADB Water and Urban Forum 2025. For the first time, ADB’s annual intergenerational dialogue became an integral part of a major sector knowledge event and policy dialogue. Meaningful Youth Engagement in Water Meaningful youth engagement moves beyond tokenism, ensuring young people are not just participants but also influencers in shaping policies, strategies, and investments. It is a participatory process where young people’s ideas, expertise, and lived experiences are integrated throughout programmatic, policy, and strategy cycles. It recognizes youth’s right to be heard but also values their knowledge, both technical and lived, as essential for improving development outcomes. A key pre-condition is positioning youth as co-creators and decision-makers rather than passive participants. Meaningful youth engagement is guided by the five-pillar framework: youth diversity and representation; enabling environment; youth-adult partnerships; youth participation; and youth empowerment. Figure 1: 5 Pillars of Meaningful Youth Engagement Source: Illustration based on Plan International. 2021. Youth Voices in Youth Employment: A Roadmap for Promoting Meaningful Youth Engagements in Youth Employment Programs. In the water sector, meaningful youth engagement has significant potential. Young water professionals are increasingly at the frontlines of innovation—designing climate-resilient infrastructure, promoting nature-based solutions, and transforming utilities through digital technologies. Evidence shows that engaging youth meaningfully leads to more sustainable, inclusive, and effective water interventions. Reimagining Sector Events through the Meaningful Youth Engagement Lens Asia and the Pacific Youth Symposium/ADB Water and Urban Forum 2025 demonstrated how meaningful youth engagement can support innovation in large-scale sector events and partnership platforms, and marked a strategic step for ADB in positioning youth as partners in flagship sector dialogue and knowledge exchange. Held on 26–30 May 2025 at ADB Headquarters in Manila, the event carried the theme "Flowing Forward: Youth Catalyzing Water Resilience” and was co-convened by ADB, Plan International, and the International Water Association through the Philippine Young Water Professionals. The event brought together 62 young water professionals and advocates from across Asia and the Pacific. Photo credit: ADB. Young people were fully integrated throughout the water and urban forum, directly influencing technical dialogues with government delegations, civil society, international organizations, and the private sector. There were two key outcomes. First, five young authors held a co-creation session to develop youth-led insights for the Asian Water Development Outlook 2025, ADB’s flagship water security publication. Second, insights and priorities of young participants were included in the development of ADB’s Water and Youth Action Agenda, to guide meaningful youth engagement in ADB’s water sector operations. The Action Agenda builds on ADB’s long-term focus on the role of young people in catalyzing water solutions, supported under the Youth for Asia initiative. The event applied the five pillars of meaningful youth engagement in the following ways: Organizing structure and partnerships The Philippine Young Water Professionals entered into a youth–adult partnership to co-convene the event. Young professionals led session design, facilitation, and reporting, while youth consultants acted as rapporteurs and communications leads. Directly embedded into both events’ core teams, youth consultants lead on a range of core priorities. Designing the event Planning for both events were aligned from the beginning. The water and urban forum’s main agenda included the youth symposium and highlighted youth events. Young professionals also served as speakers and moderators in plenary and technical sessions. Youth delegates had the opportunity to engage directly with government officials, technical experts, and development partners. Other event features included innovative formats, such as the Reverse Sharktank: Youth Innovating in Water Solutions, that elevated youth from beneficiaries to technical contributors and policy influencers; co-creation workshops that allowed tangible youth inputs into ADB’s water operations, particularly on embedding youth engagement throughout the project lifecycle; and innovative use of physical space that strengthened youth engagement, such as the Youth Lounge, which held thematic sessions on climate, gender, and safeguarding, and functioned as convening space. Building the capacity of young delegates Targeted sessions on data storytelling, gender and inclusion in community resilience, and the multilateral financing system enabled effective youth participation. A Commitments Board translated learning into action. This catalyzed institutional responses where developing member country representatives echoed meaningful youth engagement principles, with several pledging to engage youth in national water planning. Creating an enabling environment for meaningful youth engagement ADB undertook good practices to create an enabling environment for meaningful participation of diverse groups. This included gender-balancing panels, fiscally supporting marginalized youth to attend, undertaking strong safeguarding, and providing sign language interpretation. What We Learned Key insights from Asia and the Pacific Youth Symposium point to the transformative potential of structured and meaningful youth engagement in flagship knowledge events. Youth presence in traditionally adult-dominated spaces introduces fresh perspectives, challenges conventional thinking, and promotes forward grounded, community-based solutions. Co-designing events with young people increases the strategic relevance, innovativeness and inclusivity of knowledge solutions. Embedding youth dialogues within flagship sector forums fosters systems thinking to enable integrated responses across water, urban development, climate, and governance priorities. Moving Forward: Embedding Meaningful Youth Engagement in Future Events The Asia and the Pacific Youth Symposium–ADB Water and Urban Forum 2025 model provides a blueprint for integrating meaningful youth engagement into sector events organized by ADB and other organizations, ensuring innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability. Future knowledge platforms should prioritize Youth in delegations: Encourage delegations from developing member countries include at least one youth representative, with funding support for participation. Age-inclusive panels: Require at least one speaker under 35 in every session, moving beyond stand-alone youth panels to full integration. Inclusive communications: Ensure outreach is accessible, translated, and representative of diverse youth contexts. Actively engage youth networks to broaden reach. Event leadership: Include youth consultants in the core organizing team and partner with youth-led organizations as co-conveners. Youth tracks and spaces: Dedicate sessions and physical spaces to highlight youth perspectives and initiatives. ADB and partners can leverage resources like the Flower of Participation framework, UNESCO’s youth engagement toolbox, and Plan International’s guidance on translating youth participation into policy change. Conclusion: A Generation of Water Leaders is Ready Youth are not waiting to be invited in, they are already designing decentralized water systems, leading river cleanups, managing data platforms, and pushing for inclusive climate finance. What they need is access to the tables where decisions are made, and to shape the knowledge and tools that will impact their lives and communities. The Asia and the Pacific Youth Symposium and the ADB Water and Urban Forum 2025 demonstrated that when given the space, support, and respect, young people do not just contribute; they also influence and transform. For ADB and its partners, the task ahead is clear: make meaningful youth engagement the norm, not the exception. A prosperous, inclusive, resilient and sustainable Asia and the Pacific will not be built without its youngest champions at the helm. [1] United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. 2013. Regional Overview: Youth in Asia-Pacific. Resources Choice for Youth and Sexuality. Flower of Participation. Plan International. Youth Campaigner’s Toolkit. Plan International. Youth Voices in Youth Employment. UNESCO. Meaningful Youth Participation – Practical Toolkit. Ask the Experts Alanna Jayne Inserra Senior Social Development Specialist, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department, Asian Development Bank Alanna Jayne Inserra is with ADB’s Fragility and Engagement Division. She leads the Bank’s institutional work on meaningful youth engagement to support more inclusive, innovative and sustainable operations. Tanya Huizer Senior Water Resilience Specialist, Water and Urban Development Sector Office, Sector Department 2, Asian Development Bank Tanya Huizer has experience in coastal and river management, nature-based solutions, and resilient cities. She manages the Water Resilience Trust Fund and works on river basin peer-to-peer learning, youth engagement, laundry transformation, partnerships, healthy rivers and food systems and capacity development. Erika Joan Meñez Youth Engagement Consultant, Asian Development Bank Erika Joan Meñez supports ADB’s efforts to institutionalize meaningful youth engagement in climate action, water, and sustainable development. She co-leads initiatives such as Asia and the Pacific Youth Symposium and ADB Water and Urban Development Forum to amplify youth voices in ADB operations and policy dialogues. Leave your question or comment in the section below: View the discussion thread.