CollabEAUration: A Canada-wide Water Dialogue

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CollabEAUration Webinar Themes

Essentials for healthy network building
Barriers to a healthy network
Relevant network building lessons for other regions in Canada

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On Sept. 21, 2023, the Community-Based Water Monitoring Collaborative hosted “CollabEAUration: A Canada-Wide Water Dialogue” to build cross-cultural understanding between francophone and anglophone community-based water monitoring (CBWM) and participatory water science leaders across the country. This 90 minute bilingual webinar with simultaneous translation showcased two case studies. The Groupe d’éducation et d’écosurveillance de l’eau (G3E) and Atlantic Water Network (AWN) presented and discussed ideas about their regional network models in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. There was time for participation from the ~70 attendees through questions and comments.

Please see below for a summary of each organization’s contribution to the webinar and a recording of the event, or open the video directly.

G3E

In November 2022, Quebec's first Participatory Water Science Forum took place. The Forum aimed to bring together all water stakeholders in Quebec while taking a closer look at the current situation, then endeavoured to either provide an informal space to find common ground or to establish a dynamic, formal network of participating organizations. A common vision and an action plan emerged from these two days of exchange and reflection, solidifying and strengthening this collective and raising the profile of participatory science amongst the stakeholders. This webinar presented the engagement process and the action plan that resulted from the Forum.

You can find resources about the 2022 Participatory Water Science Forum on the G3E’s website.

AWN

AWN supports a network of over one hundred community partners throughout the water quality monitoring cycle. Spanning diverse watersheds across Atlantic Canada, each community partner has unique challenges, priorities, and capacities. In this webinar, AWN discussed their use of a combination of data, awareness, and reciprocal relationships to tailor support to the evolving needs of their network.

You can find resources on AWN’s most recent 2021 & 2022 community partner meetings on their website.

About Community-Based Water Monitoring Collaborative | Mouvement collaboratif de surveillance communautaire de l'eau

The CBWM Collaborative collectively advocates for the importance of CBWM at the federal level; works to secure long-term, consistent funding for CBWM programs; and strengthens the CBWM network across the country.