Details

Objectives of the workshop:

• To learn about the importance of aquatic ecosystems, and how to use tools like miniSASS (www.minisass.org) to monitor the health of a river. Participants will collect a sample of macroinvertebrates (small animals) from the water, and depending on which groups are found, they have a measure of the general river health and water quality in that river.

• To learn about the role of citizens in monitoring river health and water quality, and how to use that information to hold authorities and polluters to account.

• To look at the events at Bloemhof, Sannieshof and Biesiesvlei and other parts of the country, and discuss actions available to citizens – also in other parts of the country.

• Generally to raise awareness and build a community of interest around the problems of water quality and water treatment infrastructure in the Northwest Province and other affected areas, and legal and other remedies available to citizens.

Day 1: One-day practical session with the experts from GroundTruth, the designers of the miniSASS (Stream Assessment Scoring System): where participants will learn why and how citizens can monitor the quality of their local water resources with the miniSASS tool as well as other simple Citizen Science tools.

Day 2: One-day discussion around the legal and governance aspects of citizen involvement in ensuring the provision of proper waste water treatment services, clean drinking water, and mitigation of health risks posed by sewage contamination.