Armenian schoolchildren to carry out their own “field survey” and report on water quality
Armenian landscape © OIEau
It started on a small scale with an open session in one Armenian school, then, spurred by the children’s enthusiasm, developed into a report on water quality to be presented by hundreds of schoolchildren at World Water Monitoring Day on 18 September.
Country Water Partnership (CWP) Armenia and the EUWI+, together with Armenian schoolchildren and teachers, joined forces to transform a single open lesson about water knowledge into a summer campaign for children in the Hrazdan and Sevan pilot river basins.
Children take the helm on water issues!
Young people are clearly interested in the future of their rivers given the resounding success of an open lesson on water organised for students at one of the schools in the Hrazdan River Basin and a tour around water monuments involving 4 schools on 5 June
Study tour to Hrazdan River Basin historical, cultural and water monuments on the occasion of World Environment Day on 5 June 2019 © OIEau
Inspired by children’s curiosity, CWP Armenia, an EUWI+ partner, organised training sessions for teachers so that they can guide their pupils to learn about one of the key water resource issues: water quality.
And both partners (EUWI+ and CWP Armenia) decided to go one step further.
30 schools involved in the summer campaign
The partners decided to extend the awareness-raising campaign on water knowledge by reaching 30 Armenian schools (350-400 children) on both the Hrazdan and Sevan river basins.
The objective? To share knowledge with teachers on the importance of water quality and about how to determine the quality of water in our rivers. To achieve this, the partners introduced water quality test kits so that teachers could organise practical sessions with their pupils during the summer vacation.
Two training sessions for teachers took place in the Sevan and Hrazdan river basin communities on 11 and 12 June.
Training session for teachers in Armenia ©OIEau
18 teachers (in the Sevan River Basin District) and 12 teachers (in the Hrazdan River Basin District) were trained, representing 30 schools in total.
Armenian schoolchildren shaping the future of their River Basin
This summer, children guided by their teachers will tour several sites on the Hrazdan and Sevan river basins to visit water monuments and carry out water quality tests.
Water quality test kit © OIEau
350 to 400 pupils will participate in the campaign, giving them a chance to find out more about water issues and their river basin. Spending time on the field allows children to make the river part of their everyday life and realise just how much they depend on it. They are thus more responsive to awareness messages highlighting the need to protect it.
The children’s findings and remarks will be collected in a report which they will present on the occasion of the World Water Monitoring Day on 18 September.
As well as bringing children a marvellous learning opportunity, these field observation campaigns give weight to their views and concerns regarding their river basin and how it will be managed in the future.
The events will take place regularly throughout the EUWI+ project implementation period, engaging more young people from the Sevan and Hrazdan river basin communities, and possibly from other river basins in the country.