IN THIS ISSUE:

• Update on Waterlution's first year
• "Water you saying?": words from our survey
• Reflection Pool: a water story from Turkey
• Waterlution Learning Programs & Services

Dear Waterlution friends and colleagues,

You have received this inaugural newsletter because you have expressed an interest in the evolution of Waterlution, you have participated in - or as a partner of - one of our initiatives, or you have been passed on by a friend... the purpose of this newsletter is to share our news and to celebrate the success of our first year!

To keep up to date with us, please subscribe to future newsletters by e-mailing your name, e-mail address and country of residence to news@waterlution.org or subscribe online at our website: www.waterlution.org

Thank you for your ongoing support, inspiration and interest!

yours,
Karen & Tatiana
Partners, Waterlution

WATERLUTION'S FIRST YEAR!

Waterlution - A Water Learning Experience was launched in October 2003 with the purpose to inspire pattern-making and pattern-breaking change towards a healthy and sustainable relationship with water.

Our purpose statement has made many people over the last year ask questions – which we always see as a good sign. For some the words “pattern-making” and “pattern-breaking” make perfect sense, for others it has made them ask “what does pattern-making, and pattern-breaking mean?”

At the core of Waterlution is the belief that the current systems in which we live, work and operate are not designed to be challenged or changed. We have also experienced how these same systems are not leading us on a sustainable path to the future. Therefore, Waterlution embodies in all its programs, communications and conversations, a desire to seek out new systems, new ways of thinking and an openness to change. Once that is established (which in itself is a long process) then creative ideas can be exchanged, developed and deepened to map out how we can achieve our new vision for a sustainable relationship with water.

Accomplishments
In January 2004, Waterlution published "H20 Inc." in Corporate Knights Magazine (www.corporateknights.ca). This article, available on our website (under Water Chest), looks at issues across the water domain in Canada and asks how we can think more systemically about our relationship to water.

Over the spring of 2004, Waterlution co-designed and hosted an online WaterTalk with AIESEC International (www.aiesec.org). This was a 4-module program where students from all over the world participated in an online inquiry and dialogue to explore pressing questions around water in their local communities and globally, including topics such as cultures of water, water and entrepreneurship, water and social/environmental responsibility, and water learning through work and cultural exchange opportunities. For more details contact Tatiana at tatiana@waterlution.org.

In May 2004, Waterlution partnered with the Young Water Action Team (YWAT) to host a Youth Culture of Water workshop in Toronto. 20 youth gathered to explore their relationship with water, experience difference perspectives on water work and meet with local water entrepreneurs and innovators. For more information and the Youth Culture of Water workshop output, contact Karen at karen@waterlution.org.

October 2004 saw the publishing and cross-Canada distribution of a collaborative Corporate Knights - Waterlution Special Water magazine. Including perspectives on water and CSR, water innovations, water policy, education and water, water hot topics in Canada, and more... we will be using this magazine over the course of the next year for educational outreach purposes and as a resource for our water learning programs. For a preview, visit free articles at www.corporateknights.ca/water and if you would like to purchase a copy of the magazine please contact info@waterlution.org.

Also in October 2004, we completed our first interactive Water Learning Tool, where we explored the local culture of water with the Greater Johannesburg Area and produced a documentary from Soweto, South Africa. The production of this CD-rom with video clips, community dialogue resources and reflections from South African youth was produced in partnership with CHF (www.chf-partners.ca). We look forward to bringing the concept to Canada and creating such resources for Canadian communities to explore their local culture of water in the next year. For more information, contact Karen at karen@waterlution.org.

One of our most insightful experiences came from a workshop held at Sunnybrook School in Toronto where we worked with a class of 6 year olds to explore their relationship with water which included a learning journey to the local Brickworks factory. At the end of the program, the students pulled together a reflections booklet and it was beautiful to see how 6 year olds view learning and what they know about water. One of our aims for 2005 is to develop more school-based programs with children and adolescents.

Additionally, Waterlution hosted local learning journeys and WaterTalks in Toronto (Canada), Findhorn (Scotland), Rhodes (Greece), Bern (Switzerland), and Ptuj (Slovenia). Also, Waterlution participated in several events including the Living Lakes conference (www.livinglakes.org), The Federation of Canadian Municipalities Sustainable Cities conference (www.fcm.ca), Be The Change (www.bethechange.org.uk), Spirit in Business (www.spiritinbusiness.org), Corporate Knights CSR Roundtable (www.corporateknights.ca), Leadership Calling (www.engage.nu/interact), Learning Village 2004 (www.borl.org) and the Shambhala Institute’s Intergenerational Dialogue (www.shambhalainstitute.org).

Thank you to all our partners for a successful first year!

"WATER YOU SAYING?"
- WORDS FROM OUR ONLINE SURVEY

We had hundreds of responses from across Canada and from 34 countries!
98% of you say your health matters to you
97% of you say you care about where your food comes from
95% of you care about what exists in your local water source
63% of you DO NOT know how your water is cleaned
65% of you DO NOT know how and from where water reaches your home,
school or business
86% of you say you try to conserve water

Concerns include:
"Pollution from sewage and industries, especially I am worried about all the new pollutants from new products whose effects we do not know."
"Old, broken water pipes and open water tanks."
"Contamination from agricultural run-off and raw sewage dumping"
"The shameless waste of perfectly clean potable water, for instance through its use for flushing toilets!"
"Long-term viability of the water supply"

Why learn more about water in our communities?
"The general education about water rationing we are receiving is ill thought out. The most basic information will help those community members who have no idea about water conservation and this is a good start but the present process is something that is being done to us by legislation. A true education program is interactive. We together create an understanding about our unique water issues and co creates a sustainable water covenant to steward its health and vitality for us all."
"It could make me more connected with where my water comes from, then to care more."
"It is imperative for us all to learn more about water since I cannot properly answer the two previous questions!"

Ask yourself our 11 water questions at www.waterlution.org

REFLECTION POOL
- A WATER STORY, FROM TURKEY

Living in Izmir, on the Bay of Izmir, my mom remembers times when people could swim there. But since the 1970s-80s this has deteriorated and I have grown up never swimming in the bay! I remember it would smell in the summer, it was so polluted from raw sewage from the city being directed to the lake, from factories along the shore and from the port traffic. About 3 years ago the municipality launched a Project Big Canal to clean the bay. It's objectives were to filter the sewage and to stop raw sewage from entering the bay and the sea. A visionary city leader was tired of 10 years of conversations and arguments about cost, while nothing was being done. He urged "let's just do it!", that while new methods to clean the water may evolve, they should not wait longer.

Actually within just 3 years we've already seen massive changes! The bay stopped smelling, the colour of the bay changed from a murky brown to clearer blue. I used to avoid the port with visitors to my city and now I take them along the shoreline, I am so proud of it! There are pubs and evening hangouts now, you see people fishing for fun, there are sailing courses and many recreational opportunities that people are taking advantage of that we never had before. One simply sees more people outside!

There has been a real cultural shift around the water: a whole energy shift in the city. You see people more, you see people interacting with each other, relaxing, and you see a greater diversity of people because no matter if you are privileged or lower income, we all have equal access to the water and many of its activities. Children can fish, sail and so there is more for them to do to keep themselves busy rather than seeking trouble.

As for me, now I take a boat to visit my sister who lives across the bay instead of a cab or a bus. It's about 15 minutes, instead of sitting in traffic around the coast. I sit and have a tea - it is pretty and refreshing.
- Kivanç Onan, citizen of Izmir.

WATERLUTION LEARNING PROGRAMS & SERVICES

• WATER LEARNING PROGRAMS
• WATER LEARNING MEDIA
• WORKSHOP/EVENT FACILITATION & LEARNING PROCESS DESIGN

Water Learning Programs
Workshops and learning journeys can be customised to meet your needs around water learning - for communities, companies, NGOs, and schools. Waterlution can design a public or private program from one half day to 1 week, or a series over a given time period, to explore: local cultures of water, organisational relationships with water, contextual issues - linking water to the broader sustainability and health of our communities and our planet, CSR issues - how water is embedded in the sustainability debate, and more! Workshops and learning journeys are experiential in nature and draw on a wide variety of interactive methodologies including Open Space Technology and World Café. Extended learning experiences can include field trips, site visits with local water entrepreneurs, and opportunities for deeper conversation and reflection.

Water Learning Media
We provide research and documentation services to share and communicate what people are feeling towards water and what relationships – and questions - people hold with water. In building a “knowledge ecology” about water, we reach diverse communities, include different perspectives, and raise questions to inspire critical thinking among water stakeholders. Water learning media includes the design of learning tools such as CD-roms, video and film, publications, intranet dialogue platforms, and creative documentation of learning. We draw on action inquiry (integrating cycles of action and reflection in our process) to deepen content.

Workshop/Event Facilitation & Learning Process Design
Waterlution provides event design and hosting - for workshops, conferences, stakeholder dialogues, project planning meetings - in your water and sustainability work. Drawing on creative and participatory methodologies, our facilitation is available for coaching emerging projects and water entrepreneurs, encouraging networking within communities, and creating communities of practice relating to water.

For more information on how these offerings can support you in exploring your or your organisation's relationship with water, contact Karen at karen@waterlution.org or Tatiana at tatiana@waterlution.org

CONTACT INFORMATION

Waterlution - A Water Learning Experience
50 Old Mill Road, Suite 401 - Oakville, Ontario - L6J 7W1 - Canada

Karen Kun, karen@waterlution.org, tel:+1 416 887 4709
Tatiana Glad, tatiana@waterlution.org, tel: +1 416 827 7811

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Special thanks to Christopher Courtin of Lighthouse Learning Media (www.lighthousemedia.ca) for help in creating this newsletter!