Sparking water action through storytelling

To mark this year’s World Water Day, AMWAJ hosted the first Tabadul of 2023 where participants got the chance to learn about storytelling techniques and tools that can help them better connect with their audiences and spark action in them. The workshop focused on a growing issue in the Mediterranean: water pollution. In line with the theme of World Water Day 2023 ‘Accelerating Change’, it gave visibility to initiatives and tools that were accelerating change to tackle marine litter pollution – showcasing data-driven projects that were using creative narratives to drive action in marine ecosystems preservation and against plastic pollution.

Plastic pollution is a growing threat to all ecosystems, and the sea is the ecosystem that is suffering the most. Plastics are the largest, most harmful, and most persistent fraction of marine litter, accounting for at least 85% of total marine waste. The Mediterranean is highly affected by this situation with plastics accounting for around 95 to 100% of total floating litter and more than 50% of seabed litter.

During the event, participants got the chance to meet various initiatives.

Meet the initiatives

• MedWaves is the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Center for sustainable consumption and production (SCP). The hub is a meeting place for all stakeholders, from public to private, and a platform to create collective solutions for a sustainable future;
• Visualizing Palestine (VP) was established in 2012, and is dedicated to using data and research to visually communicate Palestinian experiences to provoke narrative change. VP brings a team of researchers, designers, technologists, and communications specialists who work in partnership with civil society actors to amplify their impact and promote justice and equality;
• Quo Artis – Art and Science Foundation is an international non-profit organization that seeks to generate connections between art, science and technology, acting as a bridge between professionals in these fields. The foundation curates, organizes and produces exhibitions, expeditions, conferences and workshops, as well as directing the production of projects on request and conducts research related to art and science;
• Sketching the Move supports dialogue and helps organizations through a universal language: drawing. More than 50 organizations, NGOs, and companies already worked with us and we helped them to deal with complexity in dialogue.

AMWAJ also had the pleasure to launch Dhikraa, a new quarterly podcast series curated by AMWAJ and produced by REVOLVE that collects water stories from around the Mediterranean, and which aims to spark curiosity and respect for our common Mediterranean culture and our most valuable asset: water ecosystems. The first episode of Dhikraa was launched during this Tabadul.

A big thank you to everyone who participated in this event.

Date and time: 22/03/2023 3:00 pm