Comprehensive Strategies for Water Management and Conservation Education
Educational water opportunities
Water Without Borders
The Water Without Borders graduate program, offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences of McMaster University in collaboration with the United Nations University: International Network on Water, Environment and Health, provides the opportunity for students to tackle major issues such as water security. The program focuses on the international water sector and addresses issues of water without borders, either geopolitical or disciplinary. Access to safe water and sanitation, the economics of water provision, the impact of climate change on water, environment and health, and the development of international policies to ensure water access, environmental sustainability and human health are among the issues that the program addresses. For example, students consider the crisis of one billion people in the world who live without access to safe water, and what international governance structures are necessary to safely steward this vulnerable resource.
Ohneganos – Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, Training, and Co-creation of Mixed-Method Tools
Following an engagement with key partners, researchers at McMaster University developed a plan – Ohneganos. This project has three main objectives:
- the co-creation of bilingual educational resources to build communities’ capacity to manage future environmental challenges
- the strengthening of youth mental health resilience in relation to water security
- the training of youth in water rights and governance strategies inclusive of Indigenous laws.
Students help set up new outdoor teaching and research lab
Two students are setting up the latest lab in the School of Earth, Environment & Society — on the the banks of Ancaster Creek.
They’re looking for places to install a network of sensors and stations that’ll make up the new McMaster Watershed and Ecosystems Living Lab (Mac WELL).
The outdoor teaching and research lab will continuously monitor the health of the creek – a vital coldwater habitat that supports aquatic species dependent on cool temperatures to spawn and survive.
The creek runs through much of Hamilton – including the McMaster Forest and West Campus – and into Lake Ontario through the Cootes Paradise wetland behind the university.
Water resource education outreach in the community
These initiatives collectively reflect the university’s role as an active educational body within the local community, especially in promoting the stewardship of water resources.
Celebrating World Water Day, the institution showcases its extensive water research, highlighting cross-disciplinary efforts to foster knowledge and innovation.
The Fishing for Science program is an outreach initiative where McMaster students engage with Hamilton students from grades 7 and 8, encouraging them to explore water science and its remediation through hands-on activities.
Efforts to integrate Indigenous and Western knowledge to improve water security for the Six Nations further illustrate McMaster’s dedication to community education and sustainable water management practices.
Ride for a Greener Tomorrow
Hamilton’s shoreline served as the backdrop for a recent cycling event where community members gathered to discuss the importance of water research and sustainability practices.
The Water Cycles ‘Welcome Back’ ride — the first McMaster cycling event of the fall — was organized by the Academic Sustainability Programs Office in collaboration with Hamilton Bike Share and Water Cycles Expeditions.
The event saw more than 40 students, staff, faculty and community members gather to hear from McMaster water research experts.
Starting from campus, participants pedaled along the scenic Waterfront Trail, eventually arriving at Bayfront Park. Speakers then discussed the importance of water and ongoing research, sharing their perspectives on sustainability practices.
iWetlands water research [also mentioned in above link]
McMaster University belongs to a network of researchers that conducts outreach events to raise awareness about wetland ecosystems, species at risks and citizen science initiatives throughout the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve (GBBR) on Eastern Georgian Bay, the world’s largest freshwater archipelago. The team works to increase community knowledge to support the development of restoration, reclamation, and adaptation strategies.
McMaster Water Network Student Chapter
McMaster Water Network Student Chapter (MWNSC) is the student’s arm of the faculty group McMaster Water Network. MWNSC connects undergraduate and graduate students from all faculties with interests in water, enabling multidisciplinary discussions and learning. MWNSC empowers students to engage in community- and student-based projects that are focused on water leadership, advocacy, and sustainability.
The McMaster Water Network Student Chapter connects students interested in water related issues in order to educate, support and facilitate their growth and development through involvement in Water network’s activities and leadership.
Global Water Futures: Solutions to global water threats
McMaster University is a lead partner in Global Water Futures, a national collaboration of Canadian universities, formed to deliver leading-edge water science to manage water futures in Canada and other cold regions in which global warming is changing landscapes, ecosystems, and the water environment.
McMaster Center for Climate Change
The mission of the McMaster Centre for Climate Change is to promote and facilitate education, research activities and collaborations to study and model processes of Earth’s climate system and the impacts of climate change on the environment, ecosystems, water resources and human health.changing landscapes, ecosystems, and the water environment.
Promoting conscious water usage on campus
The University recognizes that fresh water is a non-renewable resource that needs to be conserved. The University will attempt to:
- reduce the quantity of water used and wastewater produced;
- employ natural stormwater management procedures: ponds, rainwater systems, permeable paving, roof gardens and other mitigation strategies;
- reduce landscape irrigation needs by planting native and drought-resistant species, where possible;
- maximize water reuse across the University;
- implement water recycling programs to use rainwater for landscape irrigation.
The University acknowledges its role as an academic institution to provide students with the tools to become sustainably conscious global citizens. The University also recognizes its role as a sustainable organization and is committed to promoting awareness and education, as well as engaging the University community in the collective responsibility to implement this Policy. To promote these principles, the University has the following objectives:
- provide students, faculty, staff and administration with opportunities to increase their awareness and knowledge of sustainability
- provide students with internships and volunteer opportunities in the areas of sustainable development
- promote leadership roles among individuals from a variety of levels, providing support for sustainable initiatives
- promote interdisciplinary education and research across faculties and departments
- coordinate and cooperate with student groups, organizations, institutions, and surrounding communities pursuing sustainable programs and initiatives
- apply research/demonstration projects to campus initiatives as part of academic programs (e.g., Engineering).
McMaster continues to promote conserving more water through innovative initiatives at university locations. The purpose of such projects is to decrease McMaster’s dependency on Municipal water system therefore resulting in a much more sustainable campus.
- Conservation of City Water Cooling on Process Units to Chilled Water Loop
- The component to change city water cooled equipment to campus chilled water loop has been completed for all campus facilities and cafeterias in 2014/2015. This retrofit ensures compliance with the current potable water use regulations with the benefit of the reduction in fresh potable water consumption.
- Water System Retrofit in Life Sciences Building Fish Tank Room
- The Building 39 Life Sciences Facility has a fish research room which currently utilizes potable water through fish tanks and drains it to the sewage system. The current annual consumption of city water is approximately 50,000 m3 or $ 140,000 in annual costs at current water rates. This is a significant potable water consumption area on campus.
- The project involves implementing best practices from fish research labs at University of Guelph, Aqua Lab and Environment Canada and implement a filtration and circulation system which would have the capability to reduce potable water consumption by 80-95%. Preliminary engineering on the project has been completed and has been approved by the relevant faculty and lab staff.
- Other Initiatives
- Although urinals might not normally be an interesting topic of conversation, the ones in the David Braley Athletic Centre have a very unique aspect to them. They are ultra low-flush and only use 1/2 a litre of water per flush! Research done for the recently released Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework shows that older model toilets previously used on campus consumed up to 5.5 gallons of water per flush. This has been a major advancement in the preservation of municipal water and has also helped to decrease our dependence on the amount of potable water supplied to us.
A working group of students, faculty and staff have banded together to reduce single-use plastic water bottles by encouraging the McMaster community, including visitors to use the water bottle filling stations located throughout campus.
The group developed a university-wide campaign, Bring Your Own Bottle, that includes a web page to explain the benefits of water bottle refilling. This summer, the campaign will expand with new signage and a digital map of all the 200-plus water refilling locations across campus and in residence where all users get free access to drinking water.
The Bring Your Own Bottle Working Group aims to improve the environment and health of our McMaster community through promotion of and providing access to water bottle filling stations throughout campus. The Working Group is made up of staff, students, and faculty members from across campus who aim to make campus drinking water the beverage of choice.
The Working Group reports jointly to the McMaster Okanagan Committee with support from the McMaster Sustainability Advisory Committee
Promoting conscious water usage in the wider community
Hamilton’s shoreline served as the backdrop for a recent cycling event where community members gathered to discuss the importance of water research and sustainability practices.
The Water Cycles ‘Welcome Back’ ride — the first McMaster cycling event of the fall — was organized by the Academic Sustainability Programs Office in collaboration with Hamilton Bike Share and Water Cycles Expeditions.
The event saw more than 40 students, staff, faculty and community members gather to hear from McMaster water research experts.
Starting from campus, participants pedaled along the scenic Waterfront Trail, eventually arriving at Bayfront Park. Speakers then discussed the importance of water and ongoing research, sharing their perspectives on sustainability practices.
McMaster Water Network Student Chapter
McMaster Water Network Student Chapter (MWNSC) is the student’s arm of the faculty group McMaster Water Network. MWNSC connects undergraduate and graduate students from all faculties with interests in water, enabling multidisciplinary discussions and learning. MWNSC empowers students to engage in community- and student-based projects that are focused on water leadership, advocacy, and sustainability. The McMaster Water Network Student Chapter connects students interested in water related issues in order to educate, support and facilitate their growth and development through involvement in Water network’s activities and leadership.
Other Initiatives
These initiatives collectively reflect the university’s role as an active educational body within the local community, especially in promoting the stewardship of water resources.
- Celebrating World Water Day, the institution showcases its extensive water research, highlighting cross-disciplinary efforts to foster knowledge and innovation.
- The Fishing for Science program is an outreach initiative where McMaster students engage with Hamilton students from grades 7 and 8, encouraging them to explore water science and its remediation through hands-on activities. Efforts to integrate Indigenous and Western knowledge to improve water security for the Six Nations further illustrate McMaster’s dedication to community education and sustainable water management practices.