The Crisis
Planet Earth is running out of accessible clean water. This is something we were all taught could never happen as there is a finite amount of water on our planet that we thought would never run out.
Unfortunately, we humans have diverted, dammed, mismanaged, polluted and over-extracted our freshwater heritage so relentlessly that the United Nations calls water scarcity the “scourge of the earth” and warns us that within 10 years, demand will outstrip supply by 40 per cent.
Not surprisingly in our deeply inequitable world, many do without while others have abundance. One quarter of the world’s population does not have access to clean drinking water and one half does not have access to adequate sanitation.
Many Canadians think we are immune from this crisis. We have what I call the “myth of abundance,” believing we have so much water we can afford to be cavalier about it. As a result, we have been slow to protect our water heritage in law and practice. We would do well to remember it is only in the last few years that the lack of clean water in Indigenous communities has been addressed (not yet fully) and that scientists warn us that our Western provinces are experiencing serious and long-term drought.
Blue Communities
I have had the privilege of working with dedicated water defenders here in Canada and around the world to build a movement to address both the ecological water crisis and the fight for water justice. In 2010, the General Assembly of the United Nations officially declared that both water and sanitation are fundamental human rights. It was one of the highlights of my life to stand in the balcony that day to watch the vote. There are now almost 50 countries that have either amended their constitutions or introduced new laws to guarantee water for all.
As well, the world is waking up to the fact that just as greenhouse gas-fuelled climate change is negatively affecting freshwater, our abuse and over extraction of water is negatively affecting local hydrologic cycles, directly worsening the climate. As well as thinking “green,” we all need to think “blue.”
The recent recognition that protecting and restoring biodiversity, especially watersheds, is crucial if we are to deal with the climate crisis. Pledges in many countries, including Canada, to protect the biodiversity of 30 per cent of land and water by 2030 is an important start.
In 2009, several Canadian organizations held a landmark conference on water in Ottawa. At that time, there was a great push to privatize municipal water services. Knowing the disaster that water privatization had caused around the world but seeing the need for a positive vision for local communities, I put forward to the assembly a proposal to get municipalities to think “blue.” A municipality could become a Blue Community by pledging to protect water, to maintain water as a public trust and service and to stop selling or providing bottled water on its premises. The project took off! Within a few years, dozens of Canadian towns and cities had become Blue Communities, including Vancouver, London and Montreal.
Delightfully, the concept took off internationally as well, with many European cities, including Berlin, Paris and Brussels, becoming Blue Communities. There are now 25 million people living in Blue Community cities. Faith-based and other groups joined the movement. The World Council of Churches is a Blue Community and a number of universities have taken the pledge. In Canada, these include McGill University, St Michael’s and Victoria University Colleges at University of Toronto, and Huron and Brescia University Colleges at Western University.
Blue Schools
Of course, it makes great sense as a next step to take “blue consciousness” to schools in order to reach young people as they are forming their values. Schools, their principals and teachers have an incredibly important role to play in educating young people to care for water.
Recently, a group of Ottawa-based educators has begun work on a new project. The Blue Schools Network will be dedicated to the protection of the planet’s freshwater heritage and promotion of the human rights to water and sanitation. The goal is to empower and motivate students to bring about change as they learn about the Canadian and global water crises.
A website will offer information about water and the human right to water, including up-to-date information from the UN and many other sources. One highlight is a section on Indigenous Water Defenders, so that young people can learn about the human stories behind the fight for water justice in First Nations communities.
While all educators will be welcome to use the website and materials, the intention is that some K-12 schools will become “Blue Schools.” To certify as a Blue School, participating schools would pledge to educate about the need to protect water, recognize the universal human rights to water and sanitation, and ban or phase out the sale of bottled water at school. I invite you, as an influential school leader, to join us by becoming a Blue School.
The global water crisis is upon us, and it is important that we face it squarely. At the same time, it is crucial to give young people hope that they can do something about these huge environmental challenges and that the actions they take can make a difference.
In a world increasingly endangered by a climate crisis, it is essential to instil in young people a deep sense of consciousness about what Pedro Arrojo Agudo, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, calls the “blue soul of water.”
Maude wrote this article for the winter 2023 issue of CPCO's Principal Connections Magazine. The theme was "Social Responsibility". Click here to read other interesting articles.