How can people be educated to save and reuse water? Do you know of examples of good practice from your own country? Please refer to page 9 of the baseline study for more information on this subject.
Introduction and lead questions
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Educate in the media and in a new/renewed school subject
Hello!
Firstly, I liked that screenplay and documentary idea. I think it's a nice and practical action to make.
Secondly, I want to expose my idea for environmental education (in general: it'd include water education).
We should act on the media and in children's education to change people's minds.
In the media, there should law-enforced spaces (e.g.: 10 minutes of the most seen time schedules/week) on environmental issues, as well as about other issues.
In these spaces, people would be convinced by experts that environmental threats are serious and that it will afect all of us (everything is connected), through storms, droughts, floods,... The programme should also fight against the idea that just one person can't change anything and so we better sit in the couch and do nothing (visit http://www.science-parliament.eu/forums/2010-water-my-responsibility/990...). Of course, it should a practical space, it should give easy simple tips to decrease people's impact.
About education of youngsters in particular, I think we should raise youngsters FROM AN EARLY AGE to care about what surrounds them (as if we introduce this concepts earlier they'll have more likelywood of being applied later) and, as children grow, we should CONTINUOUSLY HAVE A MANDATORY SUBJECT ON THESE ISSUES in public education systems - p.e. in a Civical Formation subject.
In these school subject, which would exist from the 1st grade until the last pre-college grade, we would have subjects to form those students not only to their future jobs, but as people. So, there would be texts to be read, talk and discuss about issues such as the relationship with others, religion, healthy life habits, happiness,... and among them the Environment.
Important, I think, is that the subject would have mandatory themes and perhaps mandatory texts to read and that it has a strong community factor.
In the first years, there would be simple indications of what to do; as students progress, it would be deeper themes, arguments and behaviours.
Two things, which are connected, are key to all of this: POLITICAL AND SOCIAL WILL AND TEACHER FORMATION.
People can't be affraid that it would be instrumentalised. If ot would, then we would stop that and rethink the subject.
Of course, you can't just put a teacher in a room with 25 students: he must be prepared, and classrooms should be small.
Examles!
Thank you for your comments. Do you have any examples for documentaries about water? Maybe you could create a screenplay and suggest making a film at the meeting in Aachen?
Well, maybe we could show
Well, maybe we could show some documentaries like that... However, I don't think that the only way to teach people to save water is by scaring them! Wouldn't it be better to teach young people how to think logically and respect the environment? If we start doing this early, the children will become informed citizents...
To teach people to save water
To teach people to save water and make them think about it, special institutions should make a tremendous impression on the public. Something shocking or even horrific should sink into the mind to make a productive influence. For example show scientific films about the prospect of living without water and what lies ahead if we won't start saving water. Such films should be shown in schools, on seminars and workshops, on television and not as a single show, but several times.