In July of 2021, EarthEcho International, Xylem Watermark, and the Guardiola Sala Foundation began a collaborative partnership (Water Challenge Catalonia) to leverage the global reach of these organizations to build a sustainable program for youth engagement and youth development around protecting water resources in the Catalonia region of Spain. Building on the success of an event hosted by Xylem and Pep Guardiola at Casal des Infants, Barcelona in July, EarthEcho staff recently traveled to Spain to host training sessions designed to engage local teachers and train the newly recruited EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassadors.
Engaging Teachers — December 1, 2021
In collaboration with our partners at Kimple, we had the opportunity to meet with 28 local Catalonian teachers to provide water quality monitoring test kits and discuss how to implement the EarthEcho Water Challenge in the classroom. Kimple then demonstrated how teachers can access innovative instructional materials about water quality monitoring through their online platform, where EarthEcho educational resources and curriculum can now be found in English, Spanish, and Catalan.
Welcoming & Training Water Challenge Ambassadors — December 2, 2021
For our second day of training, we teamed up with Xylem Watermark to host the first in-person training for the new Catalonian Water Challenge Ambassadors. This unique experience has equipped the 15 new Ambassadors with the tools they need to conduct ongoing water monitoring efforts in their communities and allowed them to collaborate with a network of their peers passionate about protecting local waterways. The Ambassadors left this training feeling empowered to lead events that will educate their communities about the importance of waterway conservation.
Looking Ahead to 2022
These trainings with both teachers and Water Challenge Ambassadors are building toward a community-wide water education event on World Water Day 2022. Stay tuned for more information regarding upcoming community events in celebration of World Water Day! (March 22, 2022).
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The EarthEcho Water Challenge is one of the world’s largest community science programs, empowering more than 1.6 million young people and community members across the world to connect with and protect their local waterways. The program is designed to equip participants with the tools needed to tackle the global water crisis starting in their local communities. Through the program, Water Challenge participants test their local surface water quality, share their data in the global EarthEcho Water Challenge online database, and use this data to influence and inform actions to protect water resources.
