On June 2nd, the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, WildBC facilitators and Project WET BC Coordinator Kerrie Mortin were jointly honoured with the Project WET Canada award, presented by the Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) at their National Conference in Winnipeg.
In the early 1990s, the CWRA began to investigate how they might enhance their work across Canada by extending water education to youth. After consultation with youth educators from a variety of both governmental and non-governmental agencies, they decided that it was not necessary to develop a new program. Rather, the task would be to choose a high quality youth education program which could be effectively implemented in Canada. Project WET was established in 1984 by the North Dakota State Water Commission to educate the public about water resources and their management. By the mid-nineties, it had developed into a network reaching across the United States and with its own curriculum and activity guide. The CWRA decided this was the program that could help them meet their water education goals in Canada. Project WET held its first “preview” workshop in Saskatoon in 1995, and the program quickly spread within Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia. At present, Project WET has reached nearly 10,000 Canadian educators, with full-day certification workshops delivered in all provinces and territories.
Of these nearly 10,000 educators qualified to deliver Project WET programming, fully 30% have been trained in British Columbia. The CWRA presented the Project WET award to WET Facilitator Heather Murray on behalf of Kerrie and her team in recognition of BC’s long-standing efforts to promote quality water education.
As part of the award ceremony, Kerrie put together the following video showcasing the energy and commitment of the BC team in educating youth about water quality, sustainability and stewardship. Enjoy!
