Description

1) Discuss how different students may value water differently, as well as how different groups of people around the world may value it. Remember that these groups are impacted differently by water, and the systems that change water availability.

Next, read the following quotes from various stakeholders about water. Consider how these perspectives challenge or reinforce students' existing perspectives. Respond to one or more of these quotes on your profile by:

• asking questions
• expressing in what ways these perspectives challenge their own
• sharing their own perspectives on water based on where they are from and what they see around themselves

"Imagine harnessing all the power of science and technology for the good of humanity. Imagine including environmental health as an indicator of economic well-being. Imagine the cost of polluting goods and services actually reflecting the damage they cause to human health and the environment. Imagine proactive environmental policies designed to prevent environmental damage from occurring in the first place, rather than simply trying to clean messes up later. All of this is possible, but only if we as individuals, as a society, and ultimately, as a species decide that this is what we want." - David Suzuki

“Each person, human or no, is bound to every other in a reciprocal relationship. Just as all beings have a duty to me, I have a duty to them. If an animal gives its life to feed me, I am in turn bound to support its life. If I receive a stream’s gift of pure water, then I am responsible for returning a gift in kind. An integral part of a human’s education is to know those duties and how to perform them.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer, Indigenous Author

"We have 93 different communities under 133 different boil-water advisories, A Canadian government led by me will address this as a top priority because it's not right in a country like Canada. This has gone on for far too long." - Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

“The ecosystem service of clean water refers to the benefits associated with the filtering, retention and storage of water that occurs primarily in forests, streams, lakes and aquifers of watersheds. … The total value for water supply services in Howe Sound ranges from approximately $300 million to $770 million per year.”– Sound Investment: Measuring the Return on Howe Sound’s Ecosystem Assets (Michelle Molnar, 2015, David Suzuki Foundation)

“Indigenous peoples live in the most fragile ecosystems of the Earth, namely: tropical wet forests, mountainous systems, coastal plains, deserts, moors and islands, among others, and are human populations highly vulnerable to climate variability and change. The negative impacts due to global climate change threaten all forms of life that currently exist in our Mother Earth, as well as the diverse human cultures, natural environments and livelihoods of rural human populations.” -om the Declaration on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples of El Salvador

“Thanks to our ancestral knowledge and learning, indigenous peoples have had the capacity to adapt to the various pressures and to the historical environmental and socioeconomic changes. Thus, we have knowledge, technologies and capacities to adapt to changing environments and could contribute to mitigation and adaptation to climate change.” -om the Declaration on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples of El Salvador

“Mother Earth is a source of life which needs to be protected, not a resource to be exploited and commodified as a ‘natural capital.’ We have our place and our responsibilities within Creation’s sacred order. We feel the sustaining joy as things occur in harmony with the Earth and with all life that it creates and sustains.” -From the Indigenous Peoples Global Conference on Rio +20 and Mother Earth

“It's not that the world hasn't had more carbon dioxide, it's not the world hasn't been warmer. The problem is the speed at which things are changing. We are inducing a sixth mass extinction event kind of by accident and we don't want to be the extinctee, if I may coin this noun.... And so to have a generation of science students being brought up without awareness of climate change is just a formula for disaster.” - Bill Nye, American Scientist.

2) Have students use this discussion as a framework for filling out their TIGed Profile on the virtual classroom. Each student should answer the following three questions, and find an image online that captures some aspect of how they value water.

• A) What is your vision for a sustainable world?
• B) What are you planning to do to make this vision a reality?
• C) What impact has colonization had on our journey to a sustainable planet?

Post the answers to this on your profile!

3) Have the students go on a ‘virtual scavenger hunt’ to find other profiles on the website. For this treasure hunt, students need to identify two images from their fellow students and reflect on how their peers' answers and image touched them. The responses can be added to the bottom of their profile.

4) The goal is to have students complete their profile up to 80%.

Continue to 1b. Pre-Conference Oct 24 - Discover Your Sense of Place »