World Water Day: SEMAG develops awareness and sustainability activities in schools in Guarapuava
22/03/2024
To celebrate and highlight the importance of the date, the action aims to make children and adolescents reflect on their daily water consumption, in order to avoid wasting this vital and finite resource.
Celebrated annually on March 22, World Water Day aims to raise awareness among the population about the importance of this vital and essential resource for human development, whether in maintaining ecosystems, promoting public health or supporting economic activities. However, with climate change, problems related to water availability and quality are worsened, as well as the frequency and intensity of extreme events, such as droughts and floods.
Given this scenario, the City of Guarapuava, through the Department of the Environment (SEMAG), promotes awareness and sustainability activities in schools in the Municipality. The action is associated with the theme “Water Unites Us, Climate Moves Us”, proposed by the Ministry of the Environment, in order to highlight the need for transversal cooperation between different sectors and countries to face water and climate challenges in an integrated way, promoting environmental sustainability and social justice.
“We need to take care of the environment every day. This is a vital task. World Water Day is a moment of awareness and, therefore, I invite everyone to reflect on the care we must take towards this resource that is the basis of our lives and, as we well know, can end. Each of us needs to do our part. Taking care of the planet is everyone’s duty”, highlights the mayor of Guarapuava, Celso Góes.
“SEMAG is already developing several actions on this topic. One example is the Águas da Serra Project, with the recovery of degraded areas and protection of 112 springs. Furthermore, our Municipality is receiving a pilot project from IAT (Water and Land Institute) to map contaminated areas. For World Water Day, we reinforced activities focused on preserving water resources with actions carried out by the environmental education team”, highlighted the Municipal Secretary for the Environment, Germano Toledo Alves.
The initiative takes place from the 19th to the 22nd of March, at the State Colleges Professor Pedro Carli, Professor Leni Marlene Jacob, and Procópio Ferreira Caldas. The activities involve a water scarcity simulation, in which students must ration the amount of water for basic daily tasks during this crisis scenario, such as taking a shower, brushing teeth, washing dishes, personal consumption, among others.
After the groups shared and debated the results of the activity in the classroom, they went to the outside area of the institution, where they were asked about ways to save water and interesting facts about the vital resource.
“It’s a way of making children aware not to think ‘just turn on the tap and the water will come out’. In Guarapuava, our water is collected from the Rio das Pedras, and we have the privilege of being the first municipality to use this water. We need to think about the municipalities in front of our city that receive this water after us. So, we must be careful with rivers and how they are used in our homes. Every drop makes a difference to our daily lives and our planet”, highlighted the director of the Department of Environmental Education, Maristela Procidonio Ferreira.
Student Nickolas Castro, 12 years old, from Colégio Estadual Professor Pedro Carli, reports that he will put all the dynamics teachings into practice. “I thought it was a good learning experience. I want there to be more of these activities in schools, because it was really good, I really liked it. I’m going to tell my family and friends to stop wasting water, because otherwise we won’t have any more. I’m going to stop spending a lot of time in the shower and wasting water for nothing”, he highlighted.
Christofer da Cruz, a colleague of the same age as Nickolas, reiterates the importance of everything he learned. “It was really cool because it will help us save water and it will help us be more aware. My favorite part was this game out here, where we learned a lot. Now, I’m going to save more water”, said the child.
12-year-old student Evelyn Iuchmin, also from Colégio Pedro Carli, shares that the activities reinforced the care that she and her family already take in their daily lives. “It was really cool, it helped us come up with more ideas to avoid wasting water and make people more aware of how to reduce river pollution. I already practice most of the things (taught) at home, like collecting water from the washing machine to clean the sidewalk or the car. All this to avoid wasting water for nothing,” she reported.
To see more photos of the activities carried out at Colégio Estadual Professor Pedro Carli, click HERE.
About World Water Day
Established by the United Nations World Organization (UN) in 1993, World Water Day is celebrated annually on March 22, with the aim of raising awareness among the population about the importance of water for human survival and development, as well as encouraging water conservation practices. conscious and sustainable use of this vital resource. In 2024, the Ministry of the Environment promotes the theme “Water Unites Us, Climate Moves Us”, highlighting the interconnection between water and climate change.