"Some waterbody, somewhere, is part of who you are." - the Watermark Project

Cabot Trail NS photo by Gavin Langille | Flickr

Most municipalities are drowning in data but thirsty for engagement. After a week spent discussing water resiliency, one thing is crystal clear: data doesn't change minds. Stories do.

The Watermark Project is a community effort to collect and archive true stories about the ways people interact with water. These stories help us all recognize our dependence on water and highlight water's influence on our culture. By saving and studying these stories, we help protect the waters we love.https://www.watermarkproject.ca/

Last week I attended a symposium on Municipal Water Planning, we talked about salination and groundwater data. But (as usual) the real conversations happened in the hallways. Consultants and subject matter experts agreed that even with perfect data, projects stall without community (and councillor) buy-in. We have the science, but we're missing the story that makes people feel why it matters and understand the urgency of making different decisions by considering new (and evolving options).

These are the gaps Caprivian Strip Inc. helps leaders bridge by creating compelling narratives from data & technical information (in varying degrees of complexity) for communicating with communities to inspire action and make progress possible.

Whether it's through facilitating a workshop on #waterstories or shaping your core messages for inclusive community consultation we can mobilize the momentum to move from "no go" to "maybe so" and possibly even "yes, because now we know".

Perhaps inspired by Norma Wong's "who we are becoming matters"?

Perhaps "just" a sign of my introspection.

I have been thinking a lot about stories and or internal narratives and our identities and the invitations we give ourselves to evolve.

If you are interested in a conversation or sharing your stories, or help with turning your data into compelling stories please reach out for a chat.
:-)

Nina Munteanu is a prolific and insightful Canadian science fiction writer who has published nine books, including her most recent novel A Diary in the Age of Water. This novel imagines a Canada in the not-so-distant-future where water is becoming increasingly scarce, partially because water sources are drying up and partially because the US and China are buying up water from all the recently privatized Canadian utilities.