On October 7-10, 2020 in compliance with quarantine norms, eco-lessons on water and water-saving technologies of the UzWaterAware project were held in Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya regions. The events were part of the final field activities of the project implemented by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) with the financial support of the European Union. Eco-lessons for children and teachers, as well as eco-meetings in these regions were held in partnership with the Yuksalish National Movement, and the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan. Active support was provided by representatives of regional and district administration (khokimiyats) of the Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya regions.
About ten schools and 100 teachers in Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya regions participated in water-saving eco-lessons. The project focused on an easy and colorful presentation of information about water resources, demonstrating educational videos designed for children and adults at each event. Each of the five videos, presented in the format of a full eco-lesson, reveals various topics of water resources and the importance of their efficient use.
Taking into account the situation with novel coronavirus in the country and worldwide, the project and partners took all measures to ensure social distance. Besides, the topic of Covid-19 prevention was given special attention.
“Each event of the UzWaterAware project starts with the Covid-19 prevention dialogue in regions with limited water resources,” noted Ms. Shakhnoza Umarova, Director of CAREC Branch Office in Uzbekistan, Project Manager. “In addition to handing out masks and antiseptics, we talk to the participants and give them special colorful handouts that focus the attention of children and adults on measures to protect against coronavirus infection in conditions where water and daily hygiene through hand washing is not always available.”
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Within these events with the support of the Yuksalish National Movement and the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan, eco-meetings on water conservation were also held with the participation of representatives of local authorities, mahallas, public activists, as well as employees of the services for improvement and landscaping of cities, and youth organizations.
“This is not our first joint event with CAREC,” said Mr. Sherzod Saparov, Deputy Chairman of the Yuksalish. “Last year, we also held eco-lessons together and planted trees in several regions of Uzbekistan. The UzWaterAware project brought a new and important highlight to the One Million Trees initiative of the Yuksalish, particularly the use of water-saving hydrogel technology. It allows us to further apply efficient watering and to reduce water volumes by almost 50%. This time we have teamed up to conduct interesting and non-standard eco-lessons in the UzWaterAware format. In the Surkhandarya region, a great emphasis is given to children and students, and in the Kashkadarya region, 100 teachers from different schools are covered by 4 events.”
The teachers, who took part in these lessons, as well as those who received educational materials from the project, and studied the methods of conducting the eco-lesson, will transfer this knowledge in the future to their students during the open or extra-curricular activities.
Last week, water-saving eco-lessons and eco-meetings were held in 4 schools and other institutions of Nukus and Nukus district with the participation of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Ministry of Public Education of Karakalpakstan, and the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan. Within these visits, the UzWaterAware project handed over to the Ministry of Education of Karakalpakstan about 5000 copies of children’s book “Good knowledge of precious water”, translated into Karakalpak language for further free distribution among schools of the republic.
It should be reminded that the project “Raising Awareness and Partnership for Sustainable Water and Environment Development in Uzbekistan. Component 3” (or UzWaterAware) has been implemented by CAREC with financial support of the European Union since 2016 and is part of the “Sustainable Management of Water Resources in Rural Uzbekistan” Programme. The national partner of the project is the Ministry of Water Resources of Uzbekistan. UzWaterAware has become one of the projects which managed to draw attention to water and environmental problems in the country and in partnership with government agencies, NGOs, and the media to carry out large-scale work with the population.
The UzWaterAware project is implemented by CAREC with the financial support of the European Union during the period 2016-2020. The overall objective of the project is to sensitise and generate a greater degree of awareness on the strategic importance of water saving, water conservation and environmental protection under the conditions of climate change.
