Visiting high school students work with an Engineers Without Borders student leader during a one-day conference about local and global water issues.
Edmonton—High school students from the Edmonton area spent a day learning about water use and conservation from engineering students eager to share their knowledge.
Members of the University of Alberta student chapter of Engineers Without Borders hosted the day-long conference to “inspire kids to learn about water issues, to take that knowledge into their own hands and take action or inspire others around them,” said conference organizer Jennifer Heibert, a fourth-year civil engineering student.
It’s likely the 25 EWB students, who volunteered to stage the conference, achieved that goal. One group of visiting students from McNally Composite High School in Edmonton, said they’ll share the knowledge with other students and use it in future school assignments.
Activities for the students included a Water for the World presentation in which students formed groups representing different countries with vastly different financial and natural resources. Each group used those resources to build water filtration systems with rock, sand and activated charcoal acting as filters. Developed nations had no difficulty getting their water clean, but other countries had to ask for aid.
“It made me realize that we have a lot of resources here in Canada and we should use them wisely,” said Mohammed Hanifi, a Grade 10 student from McNally.
“It really put things into perspective,” added fellow student Harja Jouhal. “It makes you want to do something about it.”
In fact, the McNally students are committed to water issues. Robert Gardner, head of the school’s social studies department, said McNally students attending a youth conference on campus last summer returned to school last fall prepared to take action on water conservation. They launched an initiative that ended the sale of bottled water at the school, provided all students with reusable water bottles and saw a new water fountain installed.
The school also recently established a partnership with a middle school in Yantai, China, to exchange ideas and research about water use and conservation.
Gardner added that he was impressed with the EWB conference activities and the fact that the EWB students had organized the conference.
“I really like this, when the university has all these connections to the community,” he said. “This is good.”
Other sessions taught participants about water quality problems in many First Nations communities, about the commodification of water and environmental impacts of the bottled water industry, and about global access to clean water.
For her part, conference organizer Heibert says she and EWB are passionate about water-related issues and education and the conference, entitled Water: Rehydrate Your Mind, was a natural extension of both. When students find something they are deeply interested in, she added, learning comes more easily.
That has certainly been her experience studying engineering, and Heibert says her education will amount to more than a stable career.
“I know I can do my engineering thing but I also know I can do more than that,” she said. “I can use my skills to make things better for others. And that is another thing for students here to think about.”