Surveying Local Knowledge of Water in Canada
In preparation for the 4th General Assembly, every [attending] World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) member had to create, distribute, analyze, and present a survey of local water knowledge in their community.
As Canada is such a massive country, water knowledge is diverse and dependent on the land and water that community is built on. Considering this, I did not want to exclude the multiplicity and diversity of local water knowledges in Canada, nor did I want to provide blanket statements about local water knowledge in Canada. So, I tried to strike a balance between the two by examining both countrywide and provincial/territorial water knowledge.
I first created the survey using Survey Monkey, then shared it through my social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram) and with personal contacts. Friends, family, Waterlution and International Secretariat for Water also shared the survey on their social media pages. With the support of my network, I tried to reach every province and territory within a two-week time frame in order to gather the results before the 4th General Assembly started.
Fortunately, I reached most of the provinces and territories in Canada, excluding Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Newfoundland, with 68 participants total.
Considering my short timeframe, and lack of contacts in those particular areas, I had difficulty engaging folks from Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Newfoundland. I tried extensively to garner the attention of various organizations via Twitter and Facebook, though my attempts did not prove successful. My struggle to reach these areas is likely influenced by where I live and where my friends, family, and colleagues live. I have lived in Ontario my entire life, and my social network is mostly spread throughout the Great Lakes Basin.
While I hoped to have representation from every province and territory, I am very grateful for those folks who did fill out the survey questions.
With one week left before I had to leave to Brasil, I closed the survey and gathered the results. I both analyzed the data as a whole and focused specifically on each province and territory.
As I read the participants' responses, one thing became crystal clear: "water is life".
Every participant, in some capacity, recognized that "water is life". Whether the person felt spiritually connected to water or viewed water simply as a resource, everyone shared that we all need water to live. It does not matter who you are or where you come from, every person needs water equally.
For me, this was the most beautiful and important finding of the local survey. Everyone had a fundamental understanding that water is life. With this basic knowledge of water, every person has the capacity to build a reciprocal relationship with water.
With the help of Survey Monkey's premium services, I organized the data using different charts and tables (worth the $30, as I am no statistic wizard). It was not clear how we were going to be presenting the results to the other WYPW members, so I tried to find the most practical way to organize the data by creating a report. Specifically, I organized the questions and results thematically: context, resources, challenges, management, and connection (see report below).
When we arrived at the 4th General Assembly in Brasilia, Brasil, we learned that we would not be doing typical individual-style presentations. Instead, we gathered in four regional groups: Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. In our groups, we had to figure out how to present our results to the other regions - in 5 minutes or less.
Considering how large and diverse the Americas are, we contemplated presenting our surveys in various ways. After we went through our survey results as a group, we realized how many similarities we shared across our different home countries. Though, there was one similarity that stood out like no other: "water is life".
No matter what place we were from, our results showed the same thing. Every person that was interviewed in our communities shared how water is life.
We decided to present our results as one "Americas". Showcasing both the similarities and differences in context, resources, challenges, governance, and connections. While the Americas are most typically separated into North, Central, and South, this gave us an opportunity to eliminate borders and think of ourselves as a collective group, as one water community.
When we think of ourselves solely in a local context, it is easy to forget the challenges, struggles, and solutions of those in other regions and nations. Though, when we think of ourselves in a global context, we are open to sharing our knowledges, differences, similarities, ideas, creations, projects, values, meanings, beliefs, cultures, histories, stories - lives - with one another.
When we think of ourselves as belonging to a global community, together, we can build a collective conscience around, through, with, and for water.
After all, water is life.
The following is a report of the local survey created for the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) 4th General Assembly in Brasilia, Brasil 2018.
I would like to emphasize that the results showcase individuals' PERCEIVED knowledge of water in Canada.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to comment or contact me.
Thank you so much to those who participated! I am incredibly grateful for the time you spent answering the questions. I learned a lot from your responses, and I hope you learned something too!
Also, thank you to Waterlution, International Secretariat for Water, and the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education for funding my travels to Brasil. I could not have gone without your support!
Citation: Woodworth, S. (2018). World Youth Parliament for Water: Surveying local knowledge of water across Canada.
