Irish Water partnered up with Green-Schools to offer the free Water Ambassador Programme to schools that are registered with the An Taisce Green-Schools programme. It aims to raise awareness about the importance of water and issues surrounding the valuable resource amongst schools and local communities. Second-level students can apply to become water ambassadors and if successful will attend a one day workshop in November and support session in January. The interactive workshops are held nationwide (Westmeath, Cork and Dublin) and include talks from Green-Schools and Clean Coasts Programmes, Irish Water speakers and a field trip to a water or wastewater treatment plant. Students have the opportunity to carry out water related activities and receive career advice.
Competition Details
The programme is open to all years and the application deadline is usually in October of each year. All students accepted to the programme will become Water Ambassadors. Additionally, three students will be chosen as Green-Schools Regional Ambassadors based on their work and awarded at the Green-Schools Water Awards ceremony in May.
The programme is currently closed for entries. The Green-Schools Regional Ambassadors will be announced at the Green-Schools Water Awards Ceremony in May 2017.
Dr Róisín Bradford, Technical Communications Specialist, Irish Water
"The Ambassador programme empowers young people to pass on their knowledge of water conservation, and the importance of this vital natural resource, to their fellow students and members of their local communities"
Aisling Buckley, Regional Information Specialist, Irish Water
"The Ambassador Programme presents a great opportunity to talk to secondary school students about all the processes involved in water and wastewater treatment and the different career opportunities that exist in the water sector"
Gráinne Carey, Regional Information Specialist, Irish Water
"Irish Water views the Ambassador Programme as one of the highlights of its Green -Schools Water Theme sponsorship. The ambassadors develop a water awareness campaign based on the knowledge they receive at the workshops and are encouraged to do their own research on water related issues"
Green-Schools Regional Ambassadors Projects 2016
The 2016 Regional Ambassadors were chosen from St Mary’s Diocesan School on Louth, Galway Community College and Ursuline Secondary School in North Tipperary based on their innovative work. The ambassadors gave presentations on the water subject to other students using notice boards, posters and TV monitors in the schools to raise awareness of water conservation and water protection issues.
One ambassador organised fundraising events to enable the school to purchase a water butt to harvest rainwater. Videos were produced and shown to make students and the communities aware of the problem of microbeads in products that can reach the water and in support of the Clean Coasts ‘Think Before You Flush’ campaign. The ambassadors published articles in the local newspaper, gave radio interviews and posted on designated Facebook pages to raise water awareness in the wider public.