Map of the Week – Water, rivers and lakes

On the 5^th of May 2022, the European Atlas of the Seas participated in the Education for Climate Policy and Practice Forum organised by the Education for Climate Coalition. The Education for Climate Coalition is the European participatory education community to support the changes needed for a climate-neutral society. Challenges developed in this framework, through co-innovation labs, involve teachers, students and education stakeholders aiming at promoting education for environmental sustainability through tangible learning outcomes.

The Education for Climate Policy and Practice Forum included two components:

1. A high-level panel discussing how to effectively equip learners with the necessary skills for the green transition;
2. Four concrete co-design dialogues between community members and policy experts around community challenges at different stages of their development:
   
   • Transforming places of learning
   • Sustainability competences in action
   • Making saving water a lifelong habit
   • Learning actions for sustainable tree planting

The European Atlas of the Seas contributed to the dialogue dedicated to ‘Making saving water a lifelong habit’ water. During this dialogue, the to-be-tested activities and approaches in this area were announced. The Atlas, during its presentation, invited the participants to reflect on how their actions on water, at school, can benefit the ocean.

The Map of the Week, the Atlas’ map layer on river and lakes, is very interesting in this regard. Drainage networks and associated drainage basins form complex functional entities important not only for hydrological processes but also for environmental processes at large. As rivers flow into the ocean, water quality in the ocean directly depends on water quality of rivers. Zoom in and have a look! What is the nearest river to where you live?

Wish to know more about water and the ocean?

• Learn more about the Education for Climate challenge ‘How to make saving water a lifelong habit?
• Discover the Water Information System for Europe (WISE), a partnership between the European Commission and the European Environment Agency, which provides a web-portal entry to water related information ranging from inland waters to marine waters.
• Learn about the tenth anniversary of the Memorandum of Understanding between the European Commission and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), celebrated on this 6 May.
• Explore the new map on European Maritime Day in My Country 2022.
• Register to take part in the hybrid ‘Let’s make Europe Blue’-EU4Ocean Ocean Literacy Summit that will take place on 19-22 May 2022.

Access the map

The data in this map are provided by the Joint Research Center.