Water and WaterScape: local conditions for children’s access to water

Project Team Leader

Project Summary

Water as a global resource has been used for various tasks ranging from domestic to industrial uses. Access to improved water and sanitation are fundamental human rights and basic to children’s health and development. As an abundant global resources, it covers over 1400 million square kilometres even though only 0.001 percent of water is readily available for human consumptions. Further, there is a huge geographical variation in access to consumable water across continents, regions, countries and even within countries. While water is non-substitutable for human life, yet it is more than often taken for granted and poorly valued. Ensuring global access to safe and clean water for drinking and sanitation is one of the challenges facing mankind today.

With the current globalization efforts comes with such challenges as rapid urbanizations, environmental degradation, climate change and loss of biodiversity. In particular, children are exposed to the highest risks among other for they are the most affected group because they live longer and are relatively susceptible to climatic changes. This calls for ECEC stakeholders to make paradigmic shift to a more sustainable and ecological world views and frameworks in which children co-create and shape alternative futures.

This project aims to raise awareness to cherish and protect water landscapes and water sources, broaden understanding of water as a concept and vital resource for children and their families across contexts, nations, and cultures. With this new initiative we invite OMEP members all over the world to organise a collaborative exploration with children aged 4 to 8 years. Specifically, introduce and invite children and professionals to explore the conditions for their water supplies for washing and for drinking and to express what finding the sources, sensing the water that is available for them, and what it means for them.  

Water and waterscapes is developed by KINDknow/HVL in collaboration with OMEP World.

Report about pilot project 

This study shed light on the pedagogy of water and waterscapes in Norwegian ECEC and revealed, through the kindergarten staff,  researcher, and children’s experiences of their waterscapes, sceneries, materials, and the weather.

This report outlines the background, context, methods, and findings of the pilot study completed between 2022 and 2023 in two Norwegian kindergartens, one in Lærdal and one in Tromsø, as part of Water and WaterScape: local conditions for children’s access to water (previously when the pilot project was conducted entitled “Water – Wash from the Start – Children’s Access to Water”), which is an international project developed by KINDknow/HVL in collaboration with OMEP World.