Blue Community co-founder Maude Barlow and the Council of Canadians launch a new project: The Blue Community Schools. In Germany, there is already a Blue School since 2022. And we look forward to see many Blue Schools all around the world. Information on our website here. Designed initially for Canada, this project can be adapted everywhere. Please share widely. Here the call from the Council of Canadians to join:
The new school year is about to start, and it’s the perfect time to introduce the latest addition to the Council of Canadians’ Blue Communities project: Blue Community Schools!
Blue Community Schools provides educational resources for schools, teachers, and organizations in Canada and across the globe to learn about the human right to water and empower schools to take action to protect our waters.
This grew out of the Blue Communities network, which has more than 200 cities, towns, universities, churches, and other community groups around the world committed to recognizing the human right to water, protecting public water infrastructure, and ending the sale of bottled water in their facilities. The Blue Communities movement has swept from Vancouver and Burnaby to Thessaloniki and Berlin – these cities have committed to protecting their public water utilities and respecting people’s right to access clean water.
Now, schools can be certified as a Blue Community School if they do three things: educate about water and the need to protect it; recognize the human right to clean, safe water and sanitation; and end the sale of bottled water at their school where clean water is available.
The Council of Canadians has developed and launched this program with the support of our founder and former chair Maude Barlow. Her decades of work to protect water as a human right are informing this program, and motivating us to help educate a new generation of water defenders. With endorsements and support from water defenders like Ellen Gabriel, Meera Karunananthan, Jane Fonda, and David Suzuki, Blue Community Schools is poised to make a splash at schools across the country.
Here’s how you can be part of the Blue Community Schools movement:
- Teachers and education workers: check out the Blue Community Schools website to access our suite of teaching tools and resources about the human right to water and the need to protect it.
- Let us know you’re interested in having your school be certified Blue.
- Parents and grandparents: share these resources with your kids’ and grandkids’ teachers and schools, and with any teachers in your life.
Please consider turning your school Blue! Visit the Blue Community Schools website for more information and to sign up.
In solidarity,
Christina Warner
Executive Director
The Council of Canadians
