In a period when drought and water management are becoming popular topics, there is a visible increase in the awareness of the society. Despite the global trends, in many countries in Central and Eastern Europe there is still a lack of active citizen involvement in the water issued and a clear need of behaviour change.
This could be helped by updated and responsive water education at all levels. Although the elementary education curriculum in Central and Eastern European countries includes topics dealing with environmental education, water management is not covered sufficiently in the relevant subjects, especially in the context of current challenges. In order to contribute to this education, a new practical Guide for teachers was created, which contains current information on water issues adapted to the level of student, various activities to ensure interactive and practical lesssons.
The Handbook "Water agent V003 - Environmental education of pupils in the field of water management explores three basic areas: Water in the households, Water in the landscape; and Water in the city. Each section has at least 3 fully developed lessons, including all methodology for teachers and ready-to-use worksheets for pupils. The handbook is designed in a flexible way, ie each activity can be used both individually and as a whole training block, which is suitable for all lessons. The guide is complemented by two didactic games that are suitable either as a final summarizing activity or as an initial motivation for work with the topic of water. The handbook is available for free download in English, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian languages.
The Handbook is the outcome of the project "Water agent V003", which involved three main partners: Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe, IREAS and IMRO. The project was funded by the Visegrad fund, which mission is to promote ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.