Capacity 4 Catchments Under construction


Home Citizen Science Tools Rules Community of Practice Forum CAPS Materials Project Partners Contact Us

Community of Practice: Awareness raising, engagement and educational tools

The range of actions undertaken by all stakeholders to achieve wise water management are numerous and diverse. By working in communities of practice people are able to learn and work together as a group and this way of working really strengthens one’s commitment - rather than trying to work in isolation.

Communities of practice, include how people work together to achieve the following:

  • Learning to work together and share and grow with other relevant people and organisations
  • Learning and understanding concepts such as the notion of a "catchment" or what "ecological infrastructure" means
  • Understanding the water cycle and issues that impact on it
  • Pathways and impacts of water contamination
  • Finding better activities and methods to learn and act together for more sustainable water management practices.

Examples of educational tools supporting water stewardship Communities of Practice

For each tool below the NAME of the activity, a short DESCRIPTION and how the activity is APPLIED is listed. The table also outlines the LIMITATIONS and STRENGTHS of each activity.

NAME of the Activity or METHOD DESCRIPTION APPLYING THE ACTIVITY LIMITATIONS STRENGTHS

Learning exchanges

Participants visit and learn from others implementing similar work. The duration varies.

Learning exchanges can be very informative. They can combine the indoor and the outside classroom and can have a strong peer learning focus.

  • They can be used to groundtruth work undertaken
  • For demonstrating aspects of work
  • To teach as well as learn from each other.
It can be difficult to interpret what is seen so good descriptions and explanations help.
They can be challenging to execute and can be costly so funds may need to be sourced to arrange an exchange.
There needs to be a good match of participants. 		Seeing and hearing what actually happens (from the participants themselves), rather than rely on reports of what happens.
Use of common language between peers.
Workshops & focus groups Well planned learning events that can bring together a wide range of people. They should be very interactive. Workshops and focus groups can be used in many different ways. Examples are:
  • To share information
  • To introduce new concepts, ideas
 It can be difficult to focus these meetings and they tend to generate a lot of information, which must be accurately and adequately recorded before analysing or interpreting it.
Require good facilitators. 		Participants know what topic/issue is expected and this can lead to a joint exploration of issues.
Can provide opportunities for sharing of large volumes of information.
Stories of change Participants share their personal stories of what and how their practice or lifestyles have changed. These stories are documented and shared widely. The stories of change are useful tools to share sustained changes
  • They can be used to enable and support individuals to tell others about the changes they have made in their lives.
  • They can be used as a teaching tool as a "voice" of people who have "walked the talk".
  • They can be used as a learning opportunity.
The information obtained can be limited and hard to interpret. The stories submitted may not address the intended issue.
Requires guidance and support from the facilitators. 		They can reach a large number of people quickly.
If questions are well designed and stories clearly written, they can be useful learning tools.
Site visits Similar to learning exchanges but the focus is on observing and learning from what has happened on site. These are as versatile as the learning exchanges and stories of change.
  • These can be used to demonstrate how project activities were done at a project site. This could be for example, rehabilitation of a wetland
  • Site visits can be useful to demonstrate what has taken place in selected sites
  • Site visits can be used to highlight project aspects that are not easily explained but can be seen.
  • They can be used to highlight features, complexities of issues and identification of issues by being on site
Can be time-consuming and need guidance to make the most of the visit.
Learning can be minimal if no direction or guidance is provided. 		There is an opportunity chance to build a relationship, explain questions, and check ones interpretation of the answers.
Videos If well chosen, can be very informative. While these can be made, there is a wide range of videos available from e.g. the internet that explain concepts, describe methods and systems and compare approaches. Sites such as YouTube have videos that cover a very wide range of topics. A very versatile tool with numerous uses.
Can be used to introduce new information and check for specific existing knowledge on specific topics, so appropriate information can be made available.
Can also be used to describe and/or demonstrate tools, methods, techniques etc. 		Making a video can be intimidating but it is not difficult with smartphones. It requires practice and possibly more than one take to get a good one.
Making them can be costly. Rather find out if there are free to use copies from the internet.
Free downloads require internet access.
Language may be a barrier. 		Useful for planning new activities which address areas of limited knowledge or misunderstandings.
Posters Very flexible educational tools. They can be used to discuss a wide range of issues. They can generate a lot of discussion. Posters are a very flexible tool.
  • Both facilitators and participants can develop posters to communicate
  • Because they are visual, they can be used to identify, highlight,
  • They can be used to generate discussion
  • They can be used to explain/teach
  • They are useful to organise thoughts
They can be used to initiate discussion, for participants to show and share their ideas, to highlight misunderstandings and misconceptions as well as numerous other uses. 		Activities take careful planning and can be time-consuming. The facilitator should design them so as to ascertain more than mere recall. Activities are usually not as intimidating. Participants focus on issues on the poster as a starting point and can move to other issues.
Can highlight complexities and linkages.
Citizen science tool kit (includes miniSASS, clarity tube, rain gauge, velocity tube) The toolkit includes a number of robust tools that can be used to monitor the quality of water in their catchment. The tool kit includes a range of tools. Each of the tools is supplied with a manual and therefore comes with an explanation on how to use it.
  • The tools enable citizens to plan and implement monitoring regimes
  • The tools teach about issues that some citizens don’t often discuss
  • The tools teach some basics of science and scientific methods
They raise awareness on water issues 		Tools are not always affordable and accessible. They can, however, be loaned from organisations as WESSA and Groundruth.
Manuals are available for free with the tools (mainly English).
The purpose and contexts of the use of the tolls may need to me mediated. 		The tools are generally easy to use. They are designed to be robust and easy to handle by most users.
For use by a range of abilities and age groups.
Models A number of models can be cheaply made to illustrate concepts. Models can be developed or purchased.
  • They can be used for explanation, demonstration and generating discussion
They can be used to prompt new ideas or improvements 		Some models do not have manuals. Can be cheaply made.
Often a quick and effective way to illustrate concepts.
Enviro Picture building A flexible resource that can be used to meet a range of objectives.
A poster that is build up with a number of cards. Each card focuses on a specific issue. 		These are a combination of a poster and a jigsaw puzzle.
  • They are useful to identify issues, problems (and solutions) and to generate discussion
  • They are useful as teaching tools
  • Since the pictures depict generally familiar scenes, they are useful for breaking the ice and bringing together a wide range of people around an issue
  • The cards and the poster can be used separately based on what the facilitator wants to achieve
A selection of cards can be used on their own for specific issues 		Strong individuals speaking on behalf of others in the may dominate or even misrepresent others’ views.
Needs good facilitation to be effective. 		A wide range of people get a chance to have their say, in a non-threatening setting.
More formal consultations are often experienced as intimidating.
Pictures can be made for specific circumstances.
River walks such as the Journey of water This tool aims to connect urban water users to their water sources, which are often remote. The Journey of Water walk takes a group of celebrities and the media on an actual journey of water from the headwaters of one of our strategic water source areas. The walkers are a limited number but the walk can be followed on the internet. Millions of people are able to follow the walkers and learn about the source of some rivers, issues along the river as well as actions they can take. An interactive mobisite, www.journeyofwater.co.za allows anyone with an Internet-enabled phone to learn the source of their water.
Drama/street theatre Learning through participating and watching a theatre production. This is a popular and widely used tool

  • It can be used to transcend language and age barriers in sharing information

  • It can teach and generate discussion
  • It can be used to enable participants to act out and refine their own understanding
  • It can make light and fun of serious issues and therefore enable their discussion
It can be used to involve a wide range of participants in an issue 		Requires time and a good understanding of the issues by the cast. Can be a useful and time saving educational tool.
© 2025 Capacity for Catchments