Capacity Building in Groundwater Education
The Groundwater Project
(
Non-governmental organization (NGO)
)
#SDGAction50550
Description
The Groundwater Project (GW-Project), a Canadian non-profit charitable organization incorporated in 2019, committed to advancement in education by creating and making available online free high-quality groundwater educational material for all. The GW-Project is led by Dr. John Cherry, recipient of the 2020 Stockholm Water Prize, GW-Project Leader and Chair of the Board of Directors. The GW-Project manages key activities with a small staff, with support of a 10-member Steering Committee, and relies on contributions from many more volunteers (authors, reviewers, editors, translators).
The GW-Project’s mission is innovative in that it encompasses an entire realm of environmental science (all things groundwater) documented by volunteer experts from around the globe in online books aimed at education for readership at all levels and all global circumstances to serve humanity and our Planet’s ecology. The GW-Project is aimed at raising groundwater consciousness and strengthening groundwater expertise worldwide, in addition to making groundwater knowledge accessible for everyone everywhere.
Key to the mission of the GW-Project is fostering rapid dissemination of knowledge and learning tools to universities everywhere including those in developing countries so that those with inadequate teaching resources for comprehensive groundwater education can direct students to synthesized knowledge at a high global standard. Emphasis is on overcoming inadequacy in knowledge and technical resources for improved access to safe drinking water in both remote rural areas and large urban centers where there is water poverty, as well as on understanding and avoidance of contamination of Earth’s groundwater resources.
The GW-Project publishes original books in four categories and 20 domains: (1) Children’s Books - dedicated to all sorts of groundwater information for children; (2) Introductory Books - covering a wide range of groundwater topics and written for a broad audience; (3) Overview Books - comprehensive books that cover groundwater topics in a larger context in a descriptive manner (mostly without equations); and (4) Specialized Books – tailored towards groundwater education at the university level and continuing education for groundwater professionals. Since its inception in 2017, the GW-Project has successfully created a list of hundreds of books within carefully selected topic areas and domains, encompassing nearly the entire scope of groundwater.
The GW-Project has developed an educational philosophy and methodology for implementation of the project and has a formalized, rigorous, peer-review process for all materials issued by the GW-Project. The GW-Project’s vision of book writing has an emphasis on visual content (diagrams, freehand sketches, schematics) as the primary means to create readily understandable and engaging books.
Each book is a stand-alone copyrighted publication, to be published in other languages. All publications can be downloaded for free from the GW-Project website (pdf format) and are freely available as webbooks on our website. Since the publication of its first book in 2020, the GW-Project has published 30 original books, with 27 books in our review and production process and 200 more in preparation. Furthermore, 33 book translations have been published and 118 book translations underway (covering 44 languages).
The UN Secretary-General's message on World Water Day (March 22, 2019) stated that 2.1 billion people live without safe water, and that growing demands, coupled with poor management, have increased water stress in many parts of the world. Climate change is adding dramatically to the pressure, and by 2030, an estimated 700 million people worldwide could be displaced by intense water scarcity. The global water crisis is urgent and requires innovation to identify, prioritize, and accelerate global solutions. The focus must include groundwater because it makes up 99% of the Earth's liquid freshwater. Groundwater is key to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (ensure access to water and sanitation for all) but also directly contributes to poverty eradication (Goal 1), food security (Goal 2), gender equality (Goal 5), sustainability of cities and human settlement (Goal 11) combatting climate change (Goal 13), and protecting terrestrial ecosystems (Goal 15).
Over the next 5 years our vision is to include books and knowledge that address key issues in indigenous communities, developing countries, children’s education and that includes state of the art interactive learning modules to assist in this learning. We foresee the preparation of road maps that outline critical learning for specific regions to help guide instructors in developing countries who are beginning to build courses from the ground up. Road maps will be designed for geologic regions, water quality issues and political considerations.
The Groundwater Project currently has over 1000 well-recognized scientists and practitioners (including retirees) working as authors, translators and reviewers. These contributors are associated with over 300 organizations from 95 countries. Groundwater Project books have been downloaded over 130,000 times from 174 countries since the first book release in August 2020. Books are written first in English and then translated into as many other languages as possible. At present books are being translated into 44 languages with new translations added daily. This broad global involvement and interest is a testimony to the world’s recognition of the GW-Project’s value.
Books Published to date and those forthcoming: https://gw-project.org/books/
SDGS & Targets
Goal 6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
6.1
By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
6.1.1
Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
6.2
By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
6.2.1
Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water
6.3
By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
6.3.1
Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated
6.3.2
Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality
6.4
6.4.1
Change in water-use efficiency over time
6.4.2
Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources
6.5
By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
6.5.1
Degree of integrated water resources management
6.5.2
Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation
6.6
6.6.1
Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time
6.a
6.a.1
Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan
6.b
Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
6.b.1
Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management
SDG 14 targets covered
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Deliverables & Timeline
Resources mobilized
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SDGs
Region
- Global
Other beneficiaries
The global community receiving free groundwater education in as many languages as possible. Education ranges from children's on through to specialized science. There have been more than 125,000 book downloads (PDF) across 174 countries. Currently, GW-Project books are being translated into 44 languages with 118 book translations underway; 33 book translations have been published to date, including translations of republished books. The Groundwater Project currently has over 1000 well-recognized scientists and practitioners (including retirees) working as authors, translators and reviewers. These contributors are associated with over 300 organizations from 95 countries.
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Contact Information
John, Project Leader, The Groundwater Project; Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo; Principle Investigator, Morwick-G360 Institute, University of Guelph