We are planning to organize courses about the environment and water sustainability for school children at the Regional Environmental Center, where I work.
The idea is to educate the children to protect the environment from young age. We wanted to implement the “blue school concept” and we are currently making a program for the course.
Blue school concept is an education model which combines elements of other approaches and unique elements of its own and has water as central theme.
Has anyone had experience with such water programs at community level? Which approach and methods do you propose? Is there a concept based on PRA or something similar?
Please share your experience of conducting and designing similar courses for children and the technical approach you took.
this is very good idea I hope it applied in all countries espically the developing, you must contact with different Authorities in the region which depending on the usage of water such as; Irrigation ministry, hydro-power stations and so on
Normally you would expand the theme to environmental issues and sanitation/hygiene. These kind of programmes are being implemented in all parts of the world. Look for "WASH in Schools". When you google it, you find many links and resources. Methodology depends very much on the characteristics of the communities you want to work in: urban/rural, socio-economic conditions, family structures, cultural believes and habits etc. and last but not least the knowledge level at this point (before entering with activities). I have been working on this since the late 1990s and could refer you to interesting methods if you could share more information. Regards, Annemarieke Mooijman
An excellent idea. Please do not adopt short cuts and try to evolve the program and course content in team work with students, faculty and local communities. Please do consider to include: Familiarisation with water and its sources, importance of water for organic life, its end uses, its collection and transport and its processing for recycling,,,
Other important components of Nature that support Life can also be added,,such as Soil, Energy, Air and children can be educated for sustainable deployment of natural resources..
Once a Local Blueprint or skeleton is ready, then, you can bring in experts and get it fine tuned and get the content developed by experts--local and from outside.
I would be very much interested. As a Environmental Technology and Management professor at Chitkara University let me inform that we already have a Subject of Environmental Management for all the undergraduates and have the right expertise to develop a blue school concept". We should lobby for the financial support to our network. Greetings. Dr Charu Khosla
re may be courses that you can use from Khan Academy at khanacademy.org in the subsets listings under principals headings Biology, Chemistry and Engineering
I would be very much interested. As a tourism professor at Shkodra University "Luigj Gurakuqi" let me informa that we already have a Scientific Master in Sustainable Tourism and have the right expertise to develop a blue school concept". We should lobby for the financial support to our network. Greetings.
At Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), we offer interactive, objective, science-based water education for children starting at a young age. Our teaching methods are engaging and universal. Some are available for purchase, while others can be downloaded for free. I would suggest checking out our free "Clean and Conserve" materials, which offer specific resources for young children, elementary and high school students, as well as educators. You can download them from http://www.projectwet.org/cleanandconserve. Let me know if you have any questions or would like to know more about Project WET. We work in more than 70 countries already through our international network and are always looking for new partners.
A good option. Teaching water should start from schools. If you have introduced the value of water at first, then start teaching them how to quantify the water use. How many pots, buckets, litres they use for cultivation per m2, for bathing per person, for livestock per cow or chicken. Then later you can get them to compare with each other, each schools, regions, or compare with developed country norms etc. In my experience, the biggest obstacle for sustainable use of water resources is that the public do not know how to account for water. Start from school: It is a brilliant idea. Hold competitions. Best wishes, Sohan
1. every school must do rainwater harvesting from a sloping roof to collect the rainwater after the 1st flush by filtering it into a covered cement tank of 20,000 liters size with a copper mesh size 3 x6 feet kept inside it to kill the bacteria & prevent algae will last for 9 months, depending on the tank size,
2. the waste water from the canteen & toilets can be fed to a vegetable garden to be grown by the students.
Good idea. I hope when you are done you can share the final plan for replication in other places.
I would propose you organize to engage your learners intensively as you plan. You can have them bring pictures of water issues you would like addressed , both from their own observations as well as from internet searches. It will help capture their attention from early. All the best.
Might change the 'blue', but to expose them to air and earth (soils) might provide a valuable view on interrelation and interaction. Furthermore, if the idea of water as 'H2O' can rather be convayed as a liquid with varying quality, it might open the student up for diversities in water utilisation.