Project background
Background
Good hydration helps to increase attentiveness, which in turn raises the capacity for learning. Despite this, large numbers of pupils do not meet their minimum hydration requirements. Introducing the topic of water drinking into school education can assist with learning, while also adressing subjects such as health promotion and environmental education.
The Waterschool initiative supports an number of current European policy strategies:
EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity 2014-2020
The goal of the action plan is to contribute to halting the rise in overweight and obesity in children and young people. The action plan focuses on children, because “by learning and adopting healthy habits when young, the chance that such habits will be sustained into adulthood is greatly increased”. It is mentioned, that schools need to provide children and young people with access to free drinking water as an alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages. (Resource)
EU Drinking Water Directive
Goal of the EU Drinking Water Directive is to ensure safe and clean water for human use inside of all EU member states. (Resource) The mission of WATERSCHOOL project is to use water in a sustainable way. Therefor children as future decision makers should be aware that water and its sources must be protected and taken care of. Clean water means clean environment and healthy living organisms.
EU Plastic Strategy
The European Strategy for Plastics addresses the answer to three main questions: how to reduce the use of fossil fuels for the production of plastics; how to increase the recycling rate of plastics and how to minimize plastic pollution, especially in the seas and oceans. (Resource) The Waterschool project directly supports this strategy by encouraging initiatives for reducing plastic bottle use and developing teaching materials to educate children how to protect the environment from plastic pollution.
Sustainable development goals
The UN Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. The project WATERSCHOOL contributes to several of these 17 SDGs. (Resource)
Schools, authorities and each of us play a key role in making a difference and turning challenges into opportunities to live in a more sustainable, healthier and safer world.
Promoting drinking water in school contributes to a school's development as a health sustainably aware place of learning.
