“If water could speak…” – The story of wateracy, education and resilience

Imagine a future where the rivers whisper no more, where the sea grass beds have turned to dust and where generations forget the feel of water on their skin.

That future is not a fiction: it is arriving, silently, yet extremely quickly. The ancient Posidonia oceanica, a plant older than any city we have built as humans, is dying across the Mediterranean. Torn apart by reckless anchors, mass and careless tourism, neglect from authorities, and ignorance. A whole underwater forest, oxygenating our seas, sheltering life, slowing climate change, being destroyed in silence. This is where Wateracy comes in. It has started off with worry and grief, yes. But also with action, that gives us, and especially the young people from across Europe involved in this initiative, a lot of hope.

Wateracy is an Erasmus+ project uniting young people from the margins of Europe - Romania, France, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Poland - and bringing them into the centre of one of the most pressing issues of our time: water justice.

And leading the charge? Harry Otter, our unlikely hero and mascot, reminding us that learning does not need to be dry. Harry carries a message that water belongs to everyone. It lives in stories, smells, laughter, protest and memory. And yes, it absolutely belongs in education.

In June, just before the summer holidays, young Wateracy Ambassadors came together in Arad in Romania, for an immersive, emotional and sensory launch of the project. They walked rivers with podcasts in their ears. They built with LEGO, painted watersheds with coffee, smelled chlorine and algae, and re-learned water not through facts, but through feeling. They discovered that water flows through our identities, our families, our futures. And that it is being lost.

Now, these young ambassadors are taking the lead. Across Europe, they are launching inclusive, participatory research: gathering stories, mapping water access and preparing Wateracy Assemblies to bring together communities, scientists, older generations, activists and politicians. The aim? To listen. And then, to act. But here’s the thing: education is not only what happens in schools. It is also what happens in democracy. In speaking up. In demanding better.

That’s why, as part of Wateracy, we are making a final, urgent call for you to sign Volonteurope's Petition for Water Justice and Resilience. In fact, it is not just a petition, but above all else, a learning act, an inclusive civic ritual and a moment where we teach each other what matters. You can sign it here. Because if we lose our water wisdom, we will lose more than ecosystems: stories, languages, rituals, rights, will all be lost. We will lose inclusion itself.

Stay in touch and explore the full Wateracy journey in our interactive Story Map