The Water We Want
6th Edition (2025)

International Youth Contest and Award "The Water We Want" - 6th Edition (2025).

The Water We Want Contest (The Water We Want) is open for submissions. Aiming to explore our multifaceted water heritage—natural and cultural, tangible and intangible—through the perspectives of young people to build a more sustainable future.

Through this contest, running from November 2024 to April 2025, the Global Network of Water Museums (WAMU-NET) seeks to strengthen water sustainability education and awareness efforts, engaging young people as storytellers and narrators of our "liquid" future.

How can we change people's mindsets and inspire new behaviors and attitudes to be more respectful toward nature and promote awareness of all water uses? What daily actions can we take to protect the increasingly scarce water resources we rely on? And what can we learn from our inherited legacies to seek new solutions and promote the green recovery of our planet?

This contest calls on the young generations around the world to creatively explore the critical importance of any form of water heritage, both natural and cultural, tangible and intangible. The contest is open to schools, educational institutions, and civil society organizations worldwide. All entries must be submitted through the members of the Global Network of Water Museums.

SEE THE RESULTS OF THE LAST EVENT HERE

This contest aims to empower excellence, strengthen the visibility of educational activities implemented by water museums, and promote them worldwide.

School students and young participants are encouraged to develop innovative and engaging ideas by proposing responsible and visionary uses of water.

Any interested school or teacher should:

  • Contact the Brazilian Water Museum (museudaagua@uft.edu.br).
  • Engage students in educational activities focused on water-related issues (freshwater only) and SDGs through the creation of original drawings, videos, and other media.
  • By April 26, 2025, submit all entries (original entries accompanied by entry forms) from the participating schools and students.

All submitted artworks must focus on freshwater (excluding saltwater and oceans) and issues related to biodiversity, climate change, and water heritage: natural, cultural, tangible, and intangible heritage.

The contest is intended for schools, educational institutions (formal and informal), and civil society organizations worldwide and is limited to the following age groups:
  • students aged 6 to 9
  • students aged 10 to 12
  • students aged 13 to 18
  • students aged 19 to 25 (higher education)

Only entries within the following categories will be admitted to the contest:

1. Drawings (individual or class compositions)

Open for ages 6 to 9, 10 to 12, and 13 to 18;

2. Videos and other media

Individual or class compositions; this category includes videos, photos, single-page posters, poems, soundscapes, and music, including reinterpretation of traditional water-related music.

Open for ages 10 to 12, 13 to 18, and 19 to 25.

Contestants should choose only one type of art from the categories listed above.

Participants are encouraged to submit works in the highest possible resolution.

By April 26, 2025, all submissions and entries must be sent by email to the Brazilian Water Museum (museudaagua@uft.edu.br), including:

A. Application Form

B. An entry (only one type of work from the entries listed above).

The Application Form also includes the Terms and Conditions for participating in the contest.

Each entry must be submitted with a concise title and a brief description (maximum 200 words).

It is mandatory to include English subtitles in all submitted works (including texts and dialogues). Works without English translation will not be considered.

Only one work may be submitted by a single classroom or individual student.

We provide here a support document with all the instructions.

Among all the works received, the Brazilian Water Museum will select up to six entries in age groups and categories. The selected works will be included in the 6th online digital exhibition.

All works selected by participating WAMU-NET members are eligible to receive awards and special mentions. There will be six awards (one per age group and category).

The six best works will receive a cash prize of €250 and an Award Certificate signed by the President and Executive Director of the Global Network of Water Museums.

Final winners will be announced in June during a dedicated webinar organized with UNESCO-IHP representatives, educators, and museums worldwide.

All selected and winning works from previous editions of the TWWW contest are available on the official contest website and can be considered by participating schools, students, and teachers as a source of inspiration for developing and creating their own works.

For more information, contact the Brazilian Water Museum by email at museudaagua@uft.edu.br or write to thewaterwewant@watermuseums.net.

The Global Network of Water Museums (WAMU-NET) is a “flagship initiative” of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Hydrological Program aimed at raising awareness of our precious water heritage.

The Global Network seeks to find solutions to current water challenges by connecting past and present water management practices to sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). WAMU-NET promotes the core values of any type of inherited water heritage, both natural and cultural, tangible and intangible.

All WAMU-NET members are committed to promoting a new water ethic, reconnecting humanity with water heritage, including its social, cultural, artistic, and spiritual dimensions.

All members commit to publicizing the TWWW contest as an integral part of their educational activities through newsletters and all types of communication to foster participation and increase awareness of our inherited water heritage and our most precious life-giving resource.