Fra novembre 2021 e maggio 2022 la Water Museums Global Network (WAMU-NET) ha lanciato il concorso “The Water We Want” rivolto ai giovani delle scuole di tutto il mondo.
Attraverso questa iniziativa si è voluto esplorare il punto di vista dei giovani sull’acqua (sia naturale che culturale, tangibile e intangibile) per costruire un futuro più sostenibile e rafforzare l’educazione alla sostenibilità dell’acqua coinvolgendo i giovani stessi come narratori e narratrici del nostro futuro liquido.
Come possiamo ispirare nuove percezioni sull’acqua e nuovi modi per essere più rispettosi della natura?
Quali piccoli gesti rivoluzionari e soluzioni realizzabili possono contribuire alla rivalutazione del patrimonio idrico e al miglioramento della qualità dell’acqua?
Questa galleria espone i lavori e le parole degli studenti e delle studentesse del nostro territorio che hanno partecipato al concorso.
Primaria - ICS Paolo e Larissa Pini, Plesso Martiri di Gorla
Milano Municipio 2
I water…where an how we use it. It is a very precious natural resource, without water there is no life. Understanding the importance of water for man, for environment and all living beings on earth is therefore essential, to start respecting this precious which risks recoming increasingly scarce.
1D
WATER IS LIFE – TAKE CARE OF IT
Inspired by the tale of Agostino Traini “The fantastic trip of Mister Water”. Through reading of the tale, children followed the phases of the water cycle. They explored the issues relating to the importance of water in the life of mankind, of the animal and plant world, understanding the reasons for the need for water saving.
2A
Precious irreplaceable water.
To realize this mosaic every tile is important, like so is important that everyone doesn’t waste even a drop of water.
2B
WATER IS FOR ALL
“Water is for all” and “all are united by water” is the slogan of our work. Water is a precious good for life an the unity of people. The water and the light of people united create the rainbow of peace around and into the world. In our world people live and work in a healthy environment where water is protected. Our work is a collage of colors and hope.
2D
THE POETRY OF WATER
These are brief poems children made up. In order to describe the “Poetry” of water’s element. You can read the Poem in english and hear the child’s voice in italian by clicking the link and then on each drop of water.
3D
FRIENDLY WATER
Through a jorney made by the students and our friend “MILL” we have highlighted the importance of water for every living being an the uses that everyone does. But we have also highlighted the abuses: wars over water, pollution and waste. Therefore in the end we tried to give ourselves good resolution so as not to waste and not pollute it.
Click on the image to watch the video.
4A e 4B
Secondaria I grado - ICS Paolo e Larissa Pini, Plesso Trevisani Scaetta
Milano Municipio 2
THE CHOICE
For this project we will talk about the Naviglio of Martesana, a river in Milan. It is located near our school, and we are very fond of it because for many of us it is a relaxing and refreshing afternoon meeting place during the summer. We decided to create a video containing a series of shots and photographs of the Naviglio taken by us in the afternoon, after school; we also made a drawing divided in half: in each side there is a hand from which a
stream of water runs, but while from one hand the water provided by Earth remains clean and nature can grow lush, from the other hand water is polluted by waste, as is often the case, and trees cannot grow. We also invented a small script that we put in place partly in the classroom and partly outdoors where the good example also convinces
skeptics to clean up the Naviglio. Finally with the help of our music teacher we created a melody that acts as a background to the video. The message we want to send is: the water we want is a water that is not used as a landfill and without dirt.
Click on the image to watch the video
1B
IF WATER IS LIFE… LET US NOT STOP THE FLOW OF LIFE
Our work aims to amphasize the importance, of water and its multiple functions. We have made a series of water color drawings precisley because this pictoriall tecnique erquires water. Water is essntial to man for is survival , yet we are polluting, wasting and depleting its sources.ùwater is essential, no creaturecould do without it. Unfortunately , deceived by the illusion of an easier life, we trow a lot of plastic into the waterway and abandon pollutants that flow
into our seas. Some thimgs water is essential for: Hygiene – Transport – Navigation – The survival of marine and non_marine aniamls – Painting – Cooking – Sport – Energy. Our behavior is unacceptable. We should take better care of the water, environment, living beings and world around us, avoiding unnecessary waste and pollution. Considering the large number of sea transports, also the impact on the environment of thousands of ships should not beunderestimated. If shipping were a country, it would be sixth most polluting country in the world.
Click on the image to see the entire work.
2C
The groups dealt with different colouring materials: tempera, pastels, markers, colored pencils and watercolors. The children’s reflections are explained in five introductory statements.
1) We dream that one day mankind will be able to create a protection system for the planet that can always guarantee water all around the globe.
2) Inspired by the architecture of the Bocconi University in Milan, which looks like a waterfall, we envision a world where fictional characters from movies and books help solve the scarcity of water.
3) Apparently a rich and healty planet when the drawing opens up, it reveals on one side precious trees collecting rain water but on the other side factories poisoning the soil.
4) Two worlds: on one side what could happen if we keep polluting and, on the other side, the advent of a society that is really committed to protecting the planet.
5) This drawing depicts the different functions of water: the river gives drink to the animals, the lake gives shelter to fish, the rain purifies air and cleans. An observatory watches and preserves the environment.
2H
The water we want is clean, drinkable and accessible to everyone. The water we want is not polluted and doesn’t harm nature. Water is something not everyone has easy access to. There are stille places in the world where people don’t even have clean water, but have to get it from polluted water, full of trash and bacteria, and it often kills them. For all fish water is life, it’s like oxygen for human beings. It is their home. When we throw our garbage into their rivers and lakes, we are using their homes as landfills. As teenagers and future adults, we have the responsibility to take care of our planet, although this is the planet we have inherited and now we have to fix it. You must be blind not to see the consequences of your actions and deaf not to hear the screams of OUR Earth. We have to save water every day, we have to keep our water clean. There isn’t much we can do, we have no power, but we are going to do what we can, even if it’s little. We are drops in the ocean but it is the drops that make the ocean.
3A
Secondaria I grado - ICS Italo Calvino
Milano Municipio 2
A DROP IN THE OCEAN
Water ha been an essential component in the evolutionary history of life and is a necessity for all living beings – its changes of state shape the Earth’s surface, landscapes, as well as the history of peoples and communities. Freshwater awailability is a prerequisite for any economic, social and civic development; nevertheless, humanity is running out of water by wasting and polluting it.
It is therefore imperative to discuss the importance of water, in the same way the United Nations did with the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development.
To encourage debate in class we have created a board game A drop in the ocean (M.T. Calcutta) inspired by the Game of the Goose. The aim of the game is to encourage the younger generations to adopt sustainable practies in relation to water consumption.
The 43 spaces illustrate one of the following themes:
– Welbeing – drinking
– Human activities – washing
– Unfair distribution –seeking water
– Pollution – surfactants
– Source of energy – waterfall
– Changes of state – invisible water
– Properties – insect on water
– Sustainability – good practices
Some of the spaces are paired with 24 questions on the topic of water and sustainability. A blue or black drop placed next to an illustration symbolises, respectively a, sustainable practice or a malpractice.
How to play (besides the classic made): after rolling the dice, students discuss the meaning of the illustration (with or without the help of the teacher), choose the topic that they wish to learn more about in class, and introduce the game to their peers in other classes.
Secondaria II grado - IIS Marisa Bellisario
Inzago
The class wanted to create an ebook which tells the story of water. A sad story, unless we all become more aware and try to value and preserve water, starting from the one near us. The multimedia book represents the link with the stories of the past, handed down from generation to generation, and arrived until today. The chapters are the result of the insights that each group wanted to do, expressing themselves in the most free and personal way. The group spirit, nourished by the outing in the territory, is the most beautiful result we have achieved, after the isolation suffered because of the pandemic. This spirit has managed to include even those who, for countless reasons, had always remained on the margins: finally, even these most fragile children have plunged into a river in flood and have been able to express ideas and emotions, through a plurality of communication channels: writing (Italian and English), images, photos, videos, music, alternative augmentative communication. Our ebook must be able to reach the largest number of users to tell a story of hope: the story of young people who are aware of their great responsibility to be guardians of the planet’s water, our only planet.
2C
Secondaria II grado - IIS Niccolò Machiavelli
Pioltello
Climate change is ruining our water. Why don’t we try to listen to the help signals of our planet? The Earth is drowning, it is submerged in waste, freshwater fish are trapped in unbreakable nets. Only one hand comes out in the middle of the current and is ready to grab a rope to save itself, to save us: it is offering us one last opportunity. But Greta Thunberg has taught us that stealthy agreements are not enough, simple balloons are not enough to help the globe, but we need a large and resistant life jacket that she is trying to throw. She received a message in the bottle that had come out of Earth in search of help.
2A
THE HAND OF SALVATION
With this drawing we have decided to represent what water means to us. In the drawing you can see a girl falling and a hand ready to save her: the hand is the water and the girl represents people in difficulty. In fact water is a source of life and salvation. Thanks to it we can satisfy many needs. Precisely because the water safeguards us, we have to do the same with it.
2B
“Modern Impluvium” is a reinterpretation of an ancient Roman impluvium, or a quadrangular basin present in the atrium of Latin houses and which was used to collect rainwater, that then was reused in household chores. We called it “modern”, because our impluvium is located in a twenty-first century house, as can be seen from the French window and solar panels that can be seen above the roof. We decided to depict this idea, because the main theme of the project “The Water We Want” is the water-sustainable future, and one way to make water management sustainable is to use rain for household chores, such as making the washing machines, washing floors and irrigating the green areas of our home. Just like the ancient Romans did, but we have to do it in the twenty-first century. In summary, the aim of our project is to sensitize the people around us to give more importance to our future and to inform themselves about how to manage water in a more sustainable way, helping themselves and others.
3B
TO HAVE CARE
The meaning of this drawing is so significant: a lot of people don’t care about the condition of our planet, and they can’t see that the reasons for climate change are people. Climate change is one of the many reasons for losing our water resouces, in fact in this drawing, you can see that the river is almost emply.
But with a correct vision, we can save the world and the water, which is a fundamental need in our everyday life and as you can see in this drawing, the tears caused, by seeing a polluted environment are filling the river again with fresh water, so that our planet can be happy again and of course us people too.
3B
EVERY DROP IS ESSENTIAL
The meaning of this drawing is so significant: a lot of people don’t care about the condition of our planet, and they can’t see that the reasons for climate change are people. Climate change is one of the many reasons for losing our water resources, in fact in this drawing, you can see that the river is almost empty. But with a correct vision, we can save the world and the water, which is a fundamental need in our everyday life and as you can see in this drawing, the tears caused by seeing a polluted environment are filling the river again with fresh water, so that our planet can be happy again and of course us people too.
Click on the image to watch the video.
3B
WATER IS A SOURCE OF LIFE
Dear readers,
My drawing entitled Water is a source of life, wants to be a reminder to all of us that water is a fundamental good on which we completely depend. Therefore today it is necessary that we learn to make better use of this incredible gift of nature, using it for example to encourage cultivation in the countryside, whose soils, due to the increasingly frequent periods of little or completely no rain, is increasingly dry and arid, and not for industries, which only produce pollution. I therefore hope even with this small design to stimulate you not to waste water and to use it consciously. Thank you for your attention and have a nice day.
3B
WASTEFULNESS IS A PRIVILEGE
Water is essential to our survival, all life comes from water, and through water it endures. There’s enough water on the planet for seven billion people, however, not everyone has access to it. This valuable resource is unevenly distributed and much of it is polluted or otherwise inaccessible. In the drawing, the abundance of water is personified in a woman, desperately trying to reach every person in need, but being dragged away, held back. Such life-granting beauty, confined inside a sink, falling from a tap left open. The same water that some people can afford to leave running down the drain, for others could make the difference between life and death. Being wasteful is a privilege that not everyone can afford.
4A
WHY DO WE WANT TO DESTROY ALL OF THIS?
This drawing represents a typical landscape of the countryside in the eastern area of Milan where the entire ecosystem is based on the presence of freshwater and springs. The title (Why do we want to destroy all of this?) was chosen to give the idea that the beauty of the nature that surrounds us must be protected starting from the protection of our waters from any type of pollution that could damage it.
4A
A LITTLE TREASURE
This picture shows a typical landscape of the Po Valley drained by small rivers. This particular river features an amazing biodiversity made up of a large number of plants, birds and fish. This biodiversity however is being threarened by an increasing use of pesticides and by other forms of pollution. I have chosen this title because these ecosystems are a treasure we must all try to preserve and cherish.
4A
UNDER THE SAME SUN
Our idea is to represent the water cycle in a slightly different way. Initially it flows in a river which goes deep into nature. In our representation of nature you can’t see the water source, although you can see a waterfall, followed by many animals whose ecosistem revolves around the river itself. The second part of the drawing is dominated by pollution. Here water becomes less, being split into different condos. Here there are no plants, the only one being kept safe inside of a greenhouse, away from pollution. The thing the spectators should focus on is the way these environments seems to be much different between themselves, a thing we wanted to highlight with the way the ground is painted, but really they are closer to each other than what we think. Although the left part looks like a different place than the right one, they stand under an only sun, which resembles how sadly pollution and globalisation is gradually progressing towards the few natural environments that still survive to this day.
4B
THERE IS NO WATER TO LOSE
In the drawing we wanted to represent a freshwater stream with its characteristic flora and fauna. As you can see, the water is polluted by the drain pipes drawn on the left and by the waste that alters the normal life cycle of fish, birds, amphibians and flowers. We therefore wanted to represent the superficiality of man towards wildlife which is harmful to the environment and which has also led to global warming. Only two different species of fish have been drawn to symbolize the decrease of these. I want to conclude by saying that there is much more nature than human intervention because it is much more important and it must be highlighted.
4B
MOREOVER NO WATER
We wanted to represent the Earth as if it was a dress hanging under the sun to be dried. This is meant to symbolize drought and its consequences. In order to better represent that, we wanted to highlight which were the result of the aridity caused by the hotness of the place, along with the sunlight, meant to highlight the muggy and suffocating air.
4D