Centre of Water Excellence for Youth

The Living Lakes Canada Centre of Water Excellence for Youth brings together a multitude of youth-focussed endeavours addressing the protection, restoration and health of watersheds in B.C.’s Columbia Basin and across Canada. The impacts of climate change, demonstrated by extreme events including wildfires, flooding and landslides, have disproportionate effects on youth as well as Indigenous peoples, rural communities and vulnerable populations. 

The Centre of Water Excellence for Youth program promotes water literacy to empower youth in climate change action through educational programs, an exploration into emerging technologies in this field, and support for the implementation of stewardship projects. Youth have an increasingly strong social and environmental awareness, which has the power to transform our societies towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient future. (United Nations Youth Stats).

PROGRAM GOALS

This program has four complementary goals:

1. To develop youth engagement in the protection, restoration and health of watersheds.
2. To help build community climate resilience through water stewardship.
3. To support the green/blue economy by facilitating and documenting career and employment pathways.
4. To empower youth to combat climate anxiety through active participation and agency-building initiatives.

CURRENT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

Living Lakes Canada continues to develop and expand its work with youth, exploring opportunities to equip young people to meet the water challenges they will face tomorrow. Check back here to learn about new projects. This page will be updated as additional programs are added.

National Lake Blitz: Youth Volunteers

From May to September annually, the National Lake Blitz program encourages individuals to monitor lakes across Canada. The program aims to promote water literacy and equip volunteers with the resources needed to become active stewards of their local lakes. In 2024, 14% of Lake Blitz volunteers identified as youth (under 29 years). 

Workshops for Youth

Living Lakes Canada hosts a diverse range of workshops, many tailored to engage youth from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities across Canada. Recent highlights include a water quality monitoring course in the Yukon and a lake monitoring workshop in collaboration with Wildsight’s Youth Climate Corps. These workshops equip youth with practical skills and valuable knowledge, and empower them to steward their local waterways.

Watershed Matters

Developed in collaboration between Living Lakes and Wildsight, the Watershed Matters program engages Grades 10–12 students in the complexities of watershed management and governance, all within the context of a changing climate. Through case studies, hands-on fieldwork, data analysis, and an immersive water governance role-play activity, students experience real-world challenges in maintaining water quality and managing resources. By the program’s end, students are equipped with practical skills for water monitoring and conservation, and an appreciation for sustainable watershed management.

Groundwater and Hydrometric Training for Post-Secondary Students

Living Lakes Canada collaborates annually with post-secondary students from a number of colleges to provide hands-on experience in groundwater and hydrometric monitoring, enriching their environmental education.

Students learn how to monitor groundwater levels and movement, and use salt dilution methods to measure stream flow rates. This data provides critical insights for a wide range of applications, including assessing flood risks, guiding infrastructure planning and advancing sustainable water management strategies.

“This particular lab helped me put into practice the skills learned in class and expanded my learning with the input of professional experience”, said Selkirk College student, Gala Reul Orozpe. “These labs develop every student’s curiosity for making a meaningful impact out in the field.”

Research Questions with University Programs

Living Lakes Canada regularly engages with university programs most typically via research questions. Engagements have been made with students from the UBC’s Sauder School of Business' Master of Management and its Sustainability Scholars programs. Recent questions have explored how to identify sustainable funding strategies for the Columbia Basin Water Hub database and how to integrate Indigenous knowledge into the Foreshore Integrated Management Planning protocol – a federal protocol for surveying lakes to determine lake foreshore health.

Research Questions with University Programs

Living Lakes Canada regularly engages with university programs most typically via research questions. Engagements have been made with students from the UBC’s Sauder School of Business Master of Management and its Sustainability Scholars programs, and Niagara College’s Business Analytics Certificate program. Recent questions have explored how to identify sustainable funding strategies for the Columbia Basin Water Hub database, how to visualize water data for public communication, and how to integrate Indigenous Knowledge into a federal lake surveying protocol.

GIS Mapping Program for Selkirk College Students

In partnership with the Selkirk Geospatial Research Centre at Selkirk College, Living Lakes supports youth education and community groups by providing essential watershed mapping services. This program connects GIS co-op students with community projects to create clear, engaging maps that effectively convey complex watershed information. At the same time, it offers students valuable opportunities to develop their GIS skills and real-world experience.

Living Lakes Canada Interns

Living Lakes Canada offers opportunities for youth to share their passion for water conservation while gaining work experience. Our summer intern program offers students an opportunity to assist different Living Lakes programs and collaborate with program teams. Interns come from across Canada as well as some international universities, typically within study fields of environmental science and/or water management.

FEELING THE WEIGHT OF CLIMATE CHANGE?

Dive into various educational topics in our Learning Centre, from strategies to help relieve climate anxiety to climate impacts and watersheds in Canada.

PARTNERS

• ʔaq̓am’s Guardians in Training
• BC Lake Stewardship Society
• College of the Rockies
• Kimberley Youth Action Network
• Niagara College
• Selkirk College 
• University of Victoria 
• University of British Columbia
• University of Northern British Columbia
• Wildsight

CONTACT

To learn more contact us at youth@livinglakescanada.ca.

DONATE

Donate to become part of the movement to support, educate and empower youth. Your generosity will help us to engage more young people across the nation in our collective efforts to protect watersheds.