Four graduate students in the Center for Emerging Media Design and Developement master’s program spent three days helping Circle of Blue produce “WATERSHED: Replenishing Water Values for a Thirsty World,” hosted by Pope Francis at the Vatican during World Water Week.
During the event, EMDD students updated WATERSHED and the Blue Roots Project’s social media accounts through live coverage and tweets.
“From the start, BSU’s team has been at the front lines, from collecting water stories from around the world, to literally sitting at the table with these global thinkers in Rome to shape a better water future through design, media, networks and creative passion,” said Carl Ganter, co-founder and director of Circle of Blue.
In 2010, Ball State students began working on Circle of Blue’s Choke Point U.S., an in-depth package of reporting and information graphics about the competition between water and energy in the United States, Ganter said.
Palilonis said Ganter reached out to her a year ago to see if students could help Circle of Blue more.
This page offers educational materials for K-12 teachers around the world interested in adding the value of water and World Water Week discussions into lesson plans.
“They like to feel good about themselves, whether that is by supporting a charity or sharing a story about themself.” In response, the team developed a social media campaign called #MyWaterStory to make people aware of water issues by sharing personal stories.
Circle of Blue liked the student’s idea so much, Palilonis said Ganter suggested the students turn it into a global campaign, rather than one that only aims to reach people around Indiana.
She said her team created various prompts and asked people to respond using #MyWaterStory on social media, worldwatervalues.org and bluerootsproject.org.
EMDD plans to continue educating people through The Blue Roots Project.