Youth Are Charting New Freshwater Futures by Learning From the Water on the Water

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. All photos provided by The Conversation from various sources.

Dalal Hanna is a professor of conservation science at Carleton University.

The future of freshwater is increasingly in jeopardy across Canada and around the world.

Lakes, rivers and wetlands face numerous threats, from climate change to a range of harmful pollutants. Today, one-quarter of freshwater fauna are at risk of extinction.

As climate change and other stressors worsen, ecological grief is increasingly recognized as a legitimate response to the losses of valued species and ecosystems.

This grief poses a serious threat to mental health and well-being for many, with young people often feeling an outsized burden. While young people have contributed little to these challenges over their lifetimes, they face bearing the brunt of intensifying climate change impacts.

Similarly, this existential angst is reportedly heightened among marginalized groups. This is often true for Indigenous Peoples, who are frequently the least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet yet face higher climate risk or vulnerability to the direct consequences of climate change.

What we need are adaptive approaches that address this grief and reconnect people with the natural world at this time of profound disconnection. Research about ecological grief points to approaches that centre social support, deep listening and sensitivity, as well as valuing an ethic of care as key elements. This is ultimately about fostering community and interconnectedness in relationships.

As freshwater scientists, we are committed to contributing toward a better future for fresh waters. This is what led us to create a registered charity, Riparia, where we work to unite these concerns and approaches by facilitating free land-based learning programs for young people, especially Indigenous young women.

These programs are geared towards facing this climate-uncertain future together and the profound need for improved stewardship of freshwater ecosystems.

Why land-based learning

Land-based learning is, by definition, experiential and rooted in local culture and history. It is a mode of education that arises from connecting learners with the land, by spending time on the land, in ways that engage minds, bodies, hearts and spirits.

This approach has always been at the core of Indigenous learning. While conventional classrooms are often a far cry from these lived experiences, there is growing interest in breaking out of these confines and engaging in active land-based learning across the continent.

In our time contributing towards land-based learning initiatives over the last decade, we have observed numerous benefits. There’s a saying that numbers numb and stories stick; we find that the voices of youth who participated in land-based learning best convey its meaning and impact.

Among other benefits, land-based learning has fostered a heightened sense of connection to the land and water, spurred a deep drive to steward and care for these systems and built a community of practice to achieve that. In the words of youth aged 13-18 who participated in Riparia programs between 2019-2024:

“I could feel my point of view of the world changing. In every way. I felt as though I had become closer to the land.”

“This experience changed my view on how we should be more active in the environment and protect our water.”

“Being with these girls reassured me that our environment’s future isn’t something we have to take on alone and it will be much easier if we do it together.”

Together, our experiences with Riparia and the growing body of literature highlighting beneficial outcomes of land-based learning, tell us that these approaches can play an important role in fostering the community of care required to chart new freshwater futures.

Learning that centres Indigenous perspectives

Throughout the history of outdoor education — as an organized approach to learning in western systems — harmful stereotypes have been reproduced and Indigenous knowledge systems have been appropriated.

How many recall attending youth camps bearing the names of Indigenous Peoples or places? Were they involved in any way? Was there regard for whose land this is?

How many have participated in journey “wilderness”-based experiences? Many such experiences have often perpetuated western ideas of a “pristine” or “wild” “nature,” free from human influence. This point of view is in line with the doctrines of terra nullius (Latin for “nobody’s land”) and aqua nullius (“nobody’s water”) used to justify European colonization of Indigenous lands and waters.

What we need is learning that recognizes that Indigenous Peoples, languages and cultures are alive and evolve in close relationship with the land.

We also need learning to be accessible so it can play a foundational role building the community of care that humans and fresh waters now require.

Little programming — from youth outdoor education through university — is built with Indigenous learners in mind. Few initiatives are offered at no cost to participating youth and their families. Women remain underrepresented in existing outdoor education initiatives because of cultural and social inequalities.

Freshwater Learning: What we can do

As scientists supporting youth engagement through Riparia, we join the growing movement to break down these specific barriers to access.

You can also contribute to this movement by helping connect young people in your life to existing youth engagement programs and offering support through relevant local ways or donations.

But youth are not the only ones who need connection to land and water. We all deal with eco-grief. We all need water. And we all need to work together to chart new futures. Spending time in and on the water together is an important step in this direction. This video offers an opportunity to dive into what land-based learning with, in, and for fresh waters can look like and feel like.

As a 15-year-old Kanien’kehá:ka participant in a Riparia 2019 program shared with us: “Water is the most important thing, it’s the thing we all have in common.”

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