The H2O Project for Youth Engagement in Rural Field Actions
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Non-governmental organization (NGO)
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#SDGAction43834
Description
The problem the initiative attempts to solve: Currently, there is still a considerable challenge in identifying and uncovering prevalent unsafe water sources in China's remote and rural areas today. In response to this issue, MyH2O establishes The H2O Project which channels youth efforts into tackling drinking water-related cases in rural parts of China.
Initiative's objectives:
General Objectives: With the support of youth across China, The H2O Project aims to discover potential water quality problems and risks in the rural communities in need, with the hope to connect effective solutions to local village leaders, empower them to self-organize and sustainably operations the clean water systems in the long run. Further, our initiative visualizes and publicizes collected data on the H2O Map, a mapping tool that invites the industry and the public to access water quality data. Through the H2O Map, our initiative wants to accumulate industry white papers and push policy changes.
Sub-Objectives: Collect data on water quality issues in rural China, in order to accumulate industry white papers, influence the best practices in solving water quality issues and push policy changes accordingly; Raise villagers' awareness of the water environment, public health and promote their participation in clean water awareness actions.
Initiative's implementation:
Mobilization and selection college youth volunteer team: selection of youth volunteers from our established volunteer database after two rounds of screening
Project Manager (PM) and Project Director (PD) selection among the youth volunteers' pre-departure training in research skills, data analysis, communication, education, financial management and governmental communication' supply preparation: MyH2O provides research equipment, including water sampling and testing equipment and other essential materials
Conduct field research gain a clearer perspective and a better gauge of the quality of rural drinking water onsite, the socio-economic developments of the arena, as well as the existing sanitation and public health standards of the rural area.
unveil the underlying causes behind the insecure and precarious water quality standards, analyze and uncover potential water quality issues in the rural villages
Research findings and reports: The H2O Project selects valued cases after investigation and in-depth data analysis, and make them a collection of typical water issues and solutions in rural China. This Case Study and reports targets those who are concerned with drinking water safety issues. It delivers not only insights from the water information, data and campaigns that are carried out, but also documents detailed methodologies that are proven effective in creating changes. The Project Team will also upload the research data on The H2O Map to publicize the water quality information.
Initiative's follow-up mechanism:
Through conducting field research, the H2O Project accumulates and presents all data on the H2O Map. Then, The H2O Project publicizes the H2O Map along with our case studies of water quality issues to the industry and the public, in order to accumulate comprehensive and informative industry white papers. Further, our initiative uses our industry white paper to advise policy improvements.
SDG 6.1 - By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all The H2O Project focuses on identifying potential water quality problems and analyzing their causes and solution resources, through water quality investigations and socio-economic and physical geography research. We believe in universal human rights for all populations to access clean water. With a professional methodology and teams of capable volunteers, we can continuously improve and contribute to water safety development in rural communities, which satisfies the SDG to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all SDG 6.5 - By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate All information collected through The H2O Project is visualized onto a centralized platform, The H2O Map, where all the fundraising progress of the rural ambassadors, all the water diagnosis and all the solution delivery progress will be combined in one map. With these types of information visualized in an accessible format, more resources are likely to be channelled into rural communities, serving the most vulnerable communities in need. Additionally, data visualization as a form of water resource management can help us develop more comprehensive reports on water preservation efforts, and thus make more pertinent and effective policy recommendations. SDG 6.b - Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management The H2O Project is empowering local communities to come forth with their own water quality challenges by building supporting field team networks that carry out field assessments and diagnosis as well as the solution facilitation that follows. MyH2O also recruits local organizational leaders from MyH2O Youth Network Empowerment Program to represent their communities with potential water quality risks. To serve these communities, Project Directors (PD) and Local Project Manager (PM) are recruited from our established youth volunteer database. High-quality research teams are also formed to effectively match with local organization leaders. These teams are then enabled with specialized research tools and awareness campaign kits to provide more accurate water quality diagnosis, drinking water safety education, and solution connection for villages. Ultimately the H2O Project will accelerate SDG 6.b implementation by engaging more local communities in China.
The following partners only include youth volunteer engagement partners, the rest (funding and equipment support) is listed in the section:
Enjoy Volunteering (Non-Profit Organization)
China Youth Climate Action Network/CYCAN (Non-Profit Organization); Beautiful Homesickness: student organization from Tongji University (Non-Profit Or)
Shanghai GuoFeng Charity Foundation (Philanthropic Organization)
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
Publicity: In 2019, to increase public awareness on water sanitation issues, we collaborated with Sohu to create a visualization story using the data from the 7th phase of The H2O Project. The news story gained 1.11 million views and 583 comments.
Mobilization of Youth Volunteers to conduct field actions: Since 2015, The H2O Project has empowered 150 university youth volunteer teams (more than 1,000 volunteers) to give back to rural communities. The volunteers have gained experience in professional research and project implementation through conducting water quality research in nearly 1,000 villages in 24 provinces. The H2O Project also develops a leadership track that supports extraordinary youth volunteers to involve in our initiative for longer terms and enhance their skills in water quality research and NGO work. Selecting 14 Project Directors and Project Leaders to lead and manage our initiative, we aim to deepen our understanding of water quality conditions, accelerate the professional growth of our leadership team and develop more sustainable solutions in the water preservation industry.
Water quality testing & data visualization: 150 youth teams of The H2O Project collect water samples in rural areas, have recorded and analyzed water quality data from 24 provinces. Through their efforts, we have collected 3975 water quality tests and conducted 3,000 surveys on the communities' economy, health, and sanitation situation across 1000 villages across China. We have presented the visualization of these data on The H2O Map, which displays water sample data entries and related information according to villages' geographical distribution. Users can also learn about the investigation team and the process in each region. If users are interested in the detailed water quality information, they can also apply for a field research report through The H2O Map platform.
Education: The H2O Project categorized and streamlined our education efforts into 10 major water-related educational themes. After launching the new course content in 2019-2020, 60 teams managed to carry out more than 190 educational courses and activities to date, reaching out to more than 5000 participants. Our classes put their focus on incorporating fun into the learning of science, with the core objective of elevating students' cognition and awareness of the blue environment sector through interactions and deeper engagements with the villagers. The curriculum incorporates interesting and fun experiments, mini-games, nature expeditions, stage plays, MyH2O Carnival, and many more interactive-based activities that would captivate the young.
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Entity
SDGs
Region
- Asia and Pacific
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Contact Information
Xiaoyuan Ren, Executive Director and Founder