Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Artful Waters: Igniting Creativity for Change

Have you ever wondered what would happen when our creative and artistic energy merges with our passion and drive for water?

The following happens...

Ryan Janzen on Hydraulophone
Ryan Janzen, Laura Bolt on Flute
Ariel Dandan Mao, Winner of Artful Waters
Hydraulophone Composition Competition

Georgia Simms

Evalyn Parry, Poet

Steve Mann

Steve Mann- Canadian inventor of the Hydraulophone (and labeled by the media as the world's first cyborg) and Ryan Janzen- composer and Hydraulist; Georgia Simms- fantastic dancer, choreographer and facilitator; and Evalyn Parry, poet, songwriter and ironic social commentator, all joined the Waterlution Toronto Hub community on June 4th-- to unleash the creative capacities of 65+ guests from Toronto and the region, collaborating towards an ideal future for Southern Ontario's water.


With no national water strategy in place, Canada and especially Ontario, are in need for emerging leaders and policymakers who will help push forward solutions for a collective, ideal water future. Artful Waters engaged guests in a World Cafe experience to catalyze solutions in creative ways. At every table, a different water topic was being assessed and a storyteller stayed behind after every group switch, to welcome & inform new members joining the dialogue. This process allowed for building on past knowledge and contributing to a collective wisdom.


The design incorporated intense brainstorming in session 1; wetting our feet in Appreciative Inquiry (Discover, Dream, Design) in session 2; and delivering a final "Provocation", presented creatively by group members themselves (expertise now resides within the group- therefore the twist at this event was that guests became the "Provocateurs").



 
Here are the outcomes of what was captured:
*click on each photo to enlarge



Water in the City + Blue Economy

Session #1
-       cultural acceptance of dual water systems
o   don’t drink from the toilet
-       charge $ for freshwater not for grey water
o   symbolic charge (like .05 plastic bags)
-       emergency
o   currently we are capable of storing oil + gas (as back-up systems)
-       wind and solar as alternatives to hydro + gas
-       cold fusion

Session # 2

Emergency
- individual water purification systems
Spring water collecting for urban people
- American companies
TA / Great Lakes has enough water
- Mega Quarry > Infrastructure
Infrastructure
-       Flooding
-       Aging infrastructure
-       Storm water
Grey Water Reclamation
-       Chemicals
-       Dual Infrastructure – Water/Sewage Treatment
-       $
-       Chemicals

Ripples* (Ideas and patterns that stick)
-       Infrastructure
o   Distribution
o   Treatment
o   Collection of waste
-       recycle inside buildings
o   new buildings built with grey water recycling built in

Session # 3
BIG IDEA (under Blue Economy) 'Blue Strings for Growth'
Declaring our Waterfront as a Special Urban Sustainability District
- public participation
- food/water/energy
- encourage eco-tourism 
- to exhibit and incorporate 4 elements: earth, air, fire, water

 
Water & Health

Session #1

Session #2

Source of life
-       health
-       a fetus develops in water
-       require water to clean and sterilize birth
-       only last 3 days w/o water
Non-Intentional
-       farm contaminants
-       effluents
-       additives
-       storm sewers
-       pharmaceuticals
Intentional
-       additives
Water Footprints
-       education
-       public awareness
Privatization
-       lobby water as right
-       commodification
Commodification
-       if you don’t have access it can impact your health
-       gov’t responsibility in protecting water / public health
Maintenance of life



Session #3
-       Discovering
o   Media attention, awareness about consequences on water + health (i.e Ganges)
o   Maintenance of life in North America (standards available for all)
-       Dreaming
o   Water as a human right
o   Every household with a filter
o   Culture of conservation, not waste
o   Whole mentality being changed
o   Value of water, awareness
-       Ideas for Design: “water ethic”
o   Education, responsibility for water
o   Feeling of knowledge for change, life nourishment
o   Healthy Commons
o   Healthy Environment

BIG IDEA- Provocation:
We need a “Culture of Caring”
-       If we treated water like we valued it
o   Healthy People
o   Healthy Commons
o   Healthy Environment


Voices for Water

Session #1
-       cradle to cradle
-       charge real price of water
-       shared watershed commons
-       more use of twitter
-       cleanup our waters (lakes, rivers)
-       stop using chemical cleaners
-       use refillable water containers

Session #2

Voices for Water (Not just something we hear)

Limitations that silence voices
-       government
-       closed communication channels
Lag time for cause/effect

Religious symbols

Events, festivals, pilgrimage

Water herself
-       streams, waterfalls, rivers, waves, tides
Social media internet
-       censorships
Human rituals
-        
Film/ Visual Arts / Music
-        

Ripples
-       Water is alive
-       Water is a global common

Session #3
BIG IDEA- Provocation
A dance performance- capturing water's elements: alive, global, without a voice, our role is to protect it  

Participatory Water Governance + Community

Session #1

Session #2

Recognition that there is a gap in governance in Canada
-       people & corporations are aware (from being affected)
Different levels and access to participation
-       lack of national strategy
-       every province/ter. does something different
-       opportunities to assess best practices
Defining Governance
-       who can? How? Common values
Complexity of the issues and players (interdisciplinary)
-       competing interests
-       not everyone speaks the same “language”
NWT – Water strategy
-       Aboriginal Collaboration
-       Leaders that are pushing water governance
Being here tonight means cs is growing around water!
-        
Everyday people engaged & participating / Municipalities acting & participating
-       incentives for good behaviour
-       “Blue Strings” conditions for infrastructure grants through water conservation measures
Open & Transparent Process
-       access to information
-       EU water directive database


Ripples
-       what can Canada learn from other countries around participatory governance (and import or share) in terms of knowledge
-       encourage development of water strategies (national, prov.) through bottom-up approaches, civil-society engagement, “commons”, etc.
o   limits to strategies – how do we move into action?

Session #3
BIG IDEA- Provocation
A guided reflection exercise, asking us to think about all the challenges, success stories and dream about our ideal future of participatory governance.  


Emergency + Emerging Leadership

Session #1

-Actors: communities, bottom-up; youth, why; place-based/cities
- municipal gov. why?
process > pragmatism > pipes to fix/water delivery > it’s where we live > daily pressing issues > scale fit > waterfront connects to other scales eg. International law, prov. Mandate > denser/more people acting (places to grow w. some amount of water)
- invitation to reframe leadership
- accessibility and circumventing traditional routes
- leader as city


Session #2

Youth
-       me to we > from personal to the communal
-       find champions
Challenge:

-       Economical based decisions makes it difficult to focus on env. Issues
-       Competition from many other causes
-       Barriers put in place by existing government
Accessibility
-       Right
-       Elite
Cities

Communities
-       alternative use
-       make the issue of water real
Discussion of the issue at every level

Protection
-       people developing an understanding of the necessity of water and taking stand to protect it & make it accessible


Session #3
BIG IDEA- Provocation
MAYORSHIP  POEM 
Mayor (despair)
May or?
May your
May I
May you
May we
Mais oui!










Strategies for Action

Session #1

- Success Stories
Anti-bottled water 'campus-based'
Sierra Youth Coalition
Yellow Fish (print on rainwater drains and sewers to remind that water is heading towards an ecosystem that is alive)
Project Blue W

Session #2

Challenges

Planning & maintenance of public fountains
-       need fountain makeovers
-    Redesign of outlets
      -    water fountain finders 
Policymakers- enforcement?
-      more academics entering politics
-    regulate that which can be measured
-    economic drivers
-    lobbying
Academia and research is behind closed doors

      -     Language barriers - expert vs laypeople
      -     Lecturing style vs co-learning exchanges
Health misconceptions resulting in biased opinions

-     Media lacks expert references
-     Need labeling for personal care products & logos
-    streamlining of regulations






Session #3

 BIG IDEA- Provocation
There is a lack of information and we need a consistent system of labeling. 
We demand for LOGOS that are implemented by efforts from government, corporations, media and citizens, to help consumers make informed decisions.





Innovative Water Management


Session # 1, 2 +3


BIG IDEA- Provocation
This group declared the following a work of art in itself, capturing all conversation ideas.
(credit to Stephanie for working on it and being an amazing storyteller)







Huge Thank You to the Support Team: Rania Hajjar (who took all the photos and is in none!)
Vanessa Ho
Julia Fortier

Yamika Damani
The hosts:
*and a special thank you to Natalija who helped harvest and type up the notes for this blog
Natalija Milicevic

Dona Geagea

*To browse photo album of Artful Waters: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4ztxfmc4on9aqk4/VBmJHsw6HY/Waterlution%20Last%20Hub (photo credits: Rania Hajjar) 

*To view videos of Hydraulophone at Artful Waters: http://glogger.mobi/s/goodArtfulWaters (photo credits: Steve Mann)