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As our climate warms, our planet has reached a tipping point. A June 2019 report by Australian climate experts warns that "climate change now represents a near-to mid-term existential threat" to human civilization.
We are faced with two choices. Either we continue the trajectory we are now on and collide with the inevitable consequences of our neglect or we work to swing the pendulum. More and more, it is the voices of our youth that we hear above the noise, so we are challenging students across Canada, to cast new eyes on old problems and help us find a way forward.
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WELCOME TO THE 2020 WATERTODAY
SCHOLARSHIP CHALLENGE
FOR STUDENTS AGES 15-35
THEME FOR 2020: BOTTLED WATER – SOLVING THE PROBLEMS
At WATERTODAY we know problems are opportunities to create solutions. We believe Canada’s young scientists, engineers, researchers, tech experts, analysts, programmers, communicators, artists, musicians, designers and entrepreneurs have answers and solutions waiting to emerge and be implemented.
Please meet us in this year’s challenge with your creative solutions.
UNDERSTANDING THE BOTTLED WATER CRISIS
Bottled water has become a way of life worldwide. However, this has come with a huge price. The industry has exploited valuable water resources. The plastics industry (which is really the petro-chemical industry) has embedded within it serious issues. The disposal of single use plastics has resulted in contamination of our land, our air, and our water as the smaller and smaller pieces break down into microplastics and nanoplastics which are now causing disease and pathology in our food web. Researchers have confirmed microplastics exist in our drinking water and our own bodies. Two alarming points have emerged from recent research:
- Every piece of plastic that has ever been created is still in existence
- Plankton at the bottom of the food web responsible for 50-80% of global oxygen supply are dying because of consuming microplastics
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
One Grand Prize Winner will be chosen for a scholarship of $25,000
Two Runners-up will receive a scholarship of $5,000 each
Students ages (15-35) are invited to participate – either as individuals or in an interdisciplinary collaboration of no more than 5 individuals. (Note: should the Winning Entry be a group effort, prize monies will be divided equally amongst the members of the group.)
Entries Must Include:
1. Your Name(s), Age(s), School/University/College and contact information
2. Your teacher’s/supervising professor’s name and contact information
3. An essay outlining your project and its implementation
4. A video of YOU telling us why your project deserves recognition
5. A second video of your project
6. Any other materials, videos, audios etc. that are part of the project
7. All work must be original
Please submit to:suzanne.f@watertoday.ca
SUBMISSION DEADLINE JUNE 15, 2020
WINNING ENTRIES WILL BE ANNOUNCED SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
We are living in an unprecedented time in the evolution of our planet.
WATERTODAY is asking that candidates break through all the glass ceilings in creating solutions.
The World Is In Your Hands
For more information contact: suzanne.f@watertoday.ca
Ideas for Teachers - Beyond the Classroom - Click on image
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