Learning Launch for Juniors     Challenge :   The challenge we faced is that there most water management officials and experts in the   regional that I work ( The Kura River Basin in Georgia and Azerbaijan ) are nearing retirement   age with few left to follow . Further , those who may want to follow are often not given a   sense of what their work can contribute to , or opportunities for experience that broadens   their ability to apply their academic learning with real application . Experience working on a   Regional Transboundary UNDP - GEF International Waters Project , in their own countries   gives them exposure to a professional environment , and experts working in their field from   their own country , the region , and internationally .     Selection :   I chose the learning launch approach to this problem by testing a low cost , short term trial ,   as outlined by Jose Flores in his video lecture on Learning Launches . As a Regional Project   Coordinator and Chief Technical Advisor , I have authority to make hiring decisions , and I am   encouraged to be creative in my work . The learning launch is a way to test an idea that has   low costs and could have high returns in a relatively short period of time . It also allows me   to assess if the idea is good , or to tweak where there may be unexpected challenges before   investing more resources in it .     Application :   This trial is to give 3 - 4 low cost contracts to “ junior experts ” in each country drawn from   local graduate programs working in environmental and water management . These students   needed to have a working knowledge of English , and national languages , experience and   commitment to water or environmental management as a profession , and a completed   Bachelor ’s degree in a relevant field . The selection of Junior Experts was based on a   competitive selection process in line with UNDP HR rules .     These junior experts were given an opportunity to work with the UNDP - GEF Kura II Project   in a wide range of functions , from administering surveys , to video - taping and transcribing   international expert lectures given during the first year of the project , to formatting   documents . They worked in each of the country offices of the project , and be supervised by   the national teams , under the guidance of the Chief Technical Advisor / Regional Project   Coordinator – me ! I met with them regularly and oversaw the assignments given to them by   the national staff in both countries . The “ junior experts ” met regularly with the team , and   were asked to develop creative ideas and to use their time on the project to explore the   areas of their own professional interest . They were also able to meet with the more senior   experts and start to develop relationships with them that will be useful in their future   careers .     Insights :   Jose Flores speaks of the danger of confirmation bias , and refers to the importance of   “ tweaking ” a design in the learning launch phase . I have realized that this is critical to   recognize and very helpful to do , throughout the learning launch . The first challenge that I   encountered is that not all Junior Experts had sufficient language skills needed to work with   the team . This resulted in unequal balance between the two countries . Of four Junior 

 Experts in Azerbaijan two were not comfortable speaking English and therefore needed   additional support , that was difficult to give them . They were also shy about contributing   and were not able to share with their Georgian counterparts . In comparison the other two   in Azerbaijan and all three in Georgia were much more proficient in English and therefore   were much more energized by the potential opportunities they had , and were able to make   more active contributions .     This issue was exacerbated by the difference in the national staff supervising them . In   Georgia the national staff is an experienced team , and they were able to provide great   guidance and insights to the Juniors in their work , and the Juniors felt very empowered by   this . The Georgian Juniors took on creative roles , and increasing responsibilities , as well as   contributed to the overall work of the project . They were able to increase the image of the   project both with Senior Experts , who were thrilled to have younger people involved , and   with other stakeholders in Georgia . The Georgian team supervising them had spent 4 years   working with me in the past , and I could easily see that they took great pride in leading   these younger professionals .     In comparison , in Azerbaijan , the national team members were new to the Project Team ,   and were very slow to include the Juniors in their work . They were reluctant to provide   guidance or to delegate work , and as a result the Juniors often felt lost or unmotivated . The   work that was assigned to the Juniors was not particularly interesting to them , and the team   member charged with overseeing them was not well organized or motivated himself . On the   other hand , the one Junior in Azerbaijan working under the CTA flourished and felt very   connected to her work . I fully recognize and accept my failure to supervise the Junior ’s   leader in Azerbaijan – and will not allow this to happen again . I am glad that I realized that   this during the “ learning launch ” and for the next round of Junior experts I will definitely be   sure that whoever is supervising them has the ability to do so in a positive and productive   way .   The benefit of the learning launch approach has helped determine what makes a   create and positive sum scenario for both the Juniors and the Project and most importantly ,   for the countries and the regions .     Approach :   In the next , wider round of Junior Expert selection , the selection will ensure that all Juniors   can communicate in English ( the language of the project , and shared language of younger   people in both countries ) . This will help build regional relationships and strengthen   professional ties among these emerging experts in to the future .      In the next , wider round , the supervision of Junior Experts will be more closely watched ,   with the Georgian team providing guidance to the Azerbaijan team . Additional support will   also be brought in to work with and guide the Juniors in Azerbaijan , including the   Azerbaijani Junior who worked directly under the CTA . ( She is now being hired as the   assistant to the CTA ! )     We have been asked by higher management to share this experience with Junior Experts   with the larger GEF International Waters Community . 

 With regards to Design Thinking , I will continue to apply the “ learning launch ” approach   with other aspects of the project , and I am planning on working with the Junior Experts in   the next round to apply story telling as a way to reach a wide range of water users , and   suppliers in the Kura Basin . This will involve supplying the Junior Experts with an iPad and a   set of questions to ask water users how they think about water resources and climate   change in their communities . I want us to create a set of short ethnographic interviews in   national languages ( with subtitles into English and the other national language ) that can be   shared across the basin . I want these to feature real people and not only the challenges they   face , but solutions they have developed too , to be shared as part of our stakeholder   education , awareness raising , and empowerment campaign . And the Juniors , doing these   interviews with local people can ask the questions in a way Senior Experts or internationals   may not be able to since these people are younger , and not viewed as authorities   themselves . Plus they have great young energy ! This will be another example of applied   design thinking , based on the great experiences of “ the Good Kitchen ” so stay tuned ! ! 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Learning Launch for Juniors     Challenge :   The challenge we faced is that there most water management officials and experts in the   regional that I work ( The Kura River Basin in Georgia and Azerbaijan ) are nearing retirement   age with few left to follow . Further , those who may want to follow are often not given a   sense of what their work can contribute to , or opportunities for experience that broadens   their ability to apply their academic learning with real application . Experience working on a   Regional Transboundary UNDP - GEF International Waters Project , in their own countries   gives them exposure to a professional environment , and experts working in their field from   their own country , the region , and internationally .     Selection :   I chose the learning launch approach to this problem by testing a low cost , short term trial ,   as outlined by Jose Flores in his video lecture on Learning Launches . As a Regional Project   Coordinator and Chief Technical Advisor , I have authority to make hiring decisions , and I am   encouraged to be creative in my work . The learning launch is a way to test an idea that has   low costs and could have high returns in a relatively short period of time . It also allows me   to assess if the idea is good , or to tweak where there may be unexpected challenges before   investing more resources in it .     Application :   This trial is to give 3 - 4 low cost contracts to “ junior experts ” in each country drawn from   local graduate programs working in environmental and water management . These students   needed to have a working knowledge of English , and national languages , experience and   commitment to water or environmental management as a profession , and a completed   Bachelor ’s degree in a relevant field . The selection of Junior Experts was based on a   competitive selection process in line with UNDP HR rules .     These junior experts were given an opportunity to work with the UNDP - GEF Kura II Project   in a wide range of functions , from administering surveys , to video - taping and transcribing   international expert lectures given during the first year of the project , to formatting   documents . They worked in each of the country offices of the project , and be supervised by   the national teams , under the guidance of the Chief Technical Advisor / Regional Project   Coordinator – me ! I met with them regularly and oversaw the assignments given to them by   the national staff in both countries . The “ junior experts ” met regularly with the team , and   were asked to develop creative ideas and to use their time on the project to explore the   areas of their own professional interest . They were also able to meet with the more senior   experts and start to develop relationships with them that will be useful in their future   careers .     Insights :   Jose Flores speaks of the danger of confirmation bias , and refers to the importance of   “ tweaking ” a design in the learning launch phase . I have realized that this is critical to   recognize and very helpful to do , throughout the learning launch . The first challenge that I   encountered is that not all Junior Experts had sufficient language skills needed to work with   the team . This resulted in unequal balance between the two countries . Of four Junior 

 Experts in Azerbaijan two were not comfortable speaking English and therefore needed   additional support , that was difficult to give them . They were also shy about contributing   and were not able to share with their Georgian counterparts . In comparison the other two   in Azerbaijan and all three in Georgia were much more proficient in English and therefore   were much more energized by the potential opportunities they had , and were able to make   more active contributions .     This issue was exacerbated by the difference in the national staff supervising them . In   Georgia the national staff is an experienced team , and they were able to provide great   guidance and insights to the Juniors in their work , and the Juniors felt very empowered by   this . The Georgian Juniors took on creative roles , and increasing responsibilities , as well as   contributed to the overall work of the project . They were able to increase the image of the   project both with Senior Experts , who were thrilled to have younger people involved , and   with other stakeholders in Georgia . The Georgian team supervising them had spent 4 years   working with me in the past , and I could easily see that they took great pride in leading   these younger professionals .     In comparison , in Azerbaijan , the national team members were new to the Project Team ,   and were very slow to include the Juniors in their work . They were reluctant to provide   guidance or to delegate work , and as a result the Juniors often felt lost or unmotivated . The   work that was assigned to the Juniors was not particularly interesting to them , and the team   member charged with overseeing them was not well organized or motivated himself . On the   other hand , the one Junior in Azerbaijan working under the CTA flourished and felt very   connected to her work . I fully recognize and accept my failure to supervise the Junior ’s   leader in Azerbaijan – and will not allow this to happen again . I am glad that I realized that   this during the “ learning launch ” and for the next round of Junior experts I will definitely be   sure that whoever is supervising them has the ability to do so in a positive and productive   way .   The benefit of the learning launch approach has helped determine what makes a   create and positive sum scenario for both the Juniors and the Project and most importantly ,   for the countries and the regions .     Approach :   In the next , wider round of Junior Expert selection , the selection will ensure that all Juniors   can communicate in English ( the language of the project , and shared language of younger   people in both countries ) . This will help build regional relationships and strengthen   professional ties among these emerging experts in to the future .      In the next , wider round , the supervision of Junior Experts will be more closely watched ,   with the Georgian team providing guidance to the Azerbaijan team . Additional support will   also be brought in to work with and guide the Juniors in Azerbaijan , including the   Azerbaijani Junior who worked directly under the CTA . ( She is now being hired as the   assistant to the CTA ! )     We have been asked by higher management to share this experience with Junior Experts   with the larger GEF International Waters Community . 

 With regards to Design Thinking , I will continue to apply the “ learning launch ” approach   with other aspects of the project , and I am planning on working with the Junior Experts in   the next round to apply story telling as a way to reach a wide range of water users , and   suppliers in the Kura Basin . This will involve supplying the Junior Experts with an iPad and a   set of questions to ask water users how they think about water resources and climate   change in their communities . I want us to create a set of short ethnographic interviews in   national languages ( with subtitles into English and the other national language ) that can be   shared across the basin . I want these to feature real people and not only the challenges they   face , but solutions they have developed too , to be shared as part of our stakeholder   education , awareness raising , and empowerment campaign . And the Juniors , doing these   interviews with local people can ask the questions in a way Senior Experts or internationals   may not be able to since these people are younger , and not viewed as authorities   themselves . Plus they have great young energy ! This will be another example of applied   design thinking , based on the great experiences of “ the Good Kitchen ” so stay tuned ! !
### Output: 