This week, the Water Forum held its first youth-focused workshop, titled Conversations About Water. The event provided an opportunity to explore young people’s knowledge of and interest in water management and related issues, where they source environmental information, and what supports they need to become more engaged in local water protection efforts.
The workshop was a great success, organised in collaboration with Forum member Eimear Manning, who represents both youth and the National Youth Council of Ireland. Contributions also came from Dr Suzanne Linnane, our Education representative from DkIT, and Dr Maria Snell, representing Macra na Feirme. Each member shared the workshop invitation through their networks, helping to ensure strong youth participation.
Chaired by Forum Chair Dr Matt Crowe, the event featured presentations from the team on water management in Ireland and the future challenges facing our water resources. A breakout session on key messaging for young people was co-facilitated by Forum members, including Connie Rochford, our Water Consumer representative.
One of the highlights was an interview conducted by Eimear Manning with Stephen Reid, whose YouTube video on the Lough Neagh algal bloom has been viewed over 2.3 million times. This was followed by a lively Q&A and a workshop exploring how and where young people access environmental information.
The final session of the day focused on how best to support youth engagement in water action at a local catchment level. They also made suggestions for innovative approaches to support youth engagement at local level.
This workshop offered a valuable opportunity to hear directly from young people and will help shape the Forum’s future work.
We would also like to extend our thanks to Hazel Hurley for her fantastic graphic harvesting throughout the day.
A short report on the workshop will be published in the coming weeks.
