We were at the World Water Forum in Senegal
This global event was a fantastic opportunity to run workshops and raise awareness of Climate Fresk in Africa … and the Senegalese Freskers truly seized it!
The World Water Forum takes place every three years and brings together people from a wide range of sectors, including politics and higher education. Members of the general public and the private sector were also present. In just a few years, the forum has grown from hosting a few hundred to tens of thousands of participants. This was the first time that it had taken place in a country in sub-saharan Africa.
A great opportunity for Climate Fresk
The theme of the forum’s 9th edition, running from 21 to 25 March, was “Water security for peace and development”. Whether we’re talking about melting glaciers, pack ice and ice caps or the subject of fresh water, climate change is at the very heart of this topic. The challenges are widespread and complex, so Climate Fresk was well suited to raising awareness at this international event.
The community in Senegal got into gear: more than 30 Freskers ran in-person workshops over the course of the week. Their objectives were two-fold:
- empower all the participants with the necessary scientific knowledge for them to make good decisions in the future
- build a new community of Freskers to spread Climate Fresk across Africa
Mission accomplished!
61 people took part in a Climate Fresk workshop over the course of the week. That’s without taking into consideration the amount of people who got exposed NGO for the first time. It was a great success with both children and adults who got involved learning a lot about the climate emergency.
The participants didn’t just come from Senegal: people from Congo, Cameroon, South Africa, Tanzania, Benin, Ivory Coast and Gambia all got involved. The workshop generated so much enthusiasm that people were talking about doing their facilitators training, so soon there will be new Freskers in Africa!
The World Water Forum was a great experience for this group of Senegalese Freskers who succeeded in their mission and the future looks very bright for Climate Fresk in Africa. Well done Fanta, Thomas, Didier and all the Freskers community of Senegal !