The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor ColeridgeThe objective of World Water Day 2011 is to focus international attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems. http://www.worldwaterday2011.org/ It’s early. The coffee is percolating, and the day - world water day no less – begins to flow. Like my coffee and day, some thoughts on this challenge of our times begin to percolate and flow:
- The issue of water quality and availability is the sign of our times and as such offers us an opportunity for growth. Unless and until we view the issue of water through a new lens, we will not find a sustainable solution.
- Access to clean water goes beyond practical, utilitarian considerations and has raised difficult questions about justice, equity, responsibility and obligation.
- Water is the ultimate analogy of our interconnectedness. It is forcing us to see ourselves as the inhabitants of one biosphere, as the players on one world stage. It is calling us to see ourselves as one world community in which:
- We can commit to a shared vision for long-term cooperative action
- We can work to end the oppression of extreme poverty
- We educate children and youth with new mindsets and habits, and the drive to address our dramatic and complex challenges
- We give more attention to the gender dimensions of resource scarcity
- We see that the development of our communities is no longer done at the detriment of the whole