Welcome to the Polluted Waters site, part of the Climate Action Childhood research collective.
LIFE. PAST. PRESENT. FUTURES.
This site serves as a way to connect those interested in the flows of water between the Great Lakes- specifically focusing on Lake Ontario. It provides reflections, blogs, narratives, artwork, and pictures to think with, think about, and reflect with water. Specially, this site is interested in thinking about polluted waters and engaging with the past in the present in order to think about our collective futures.
Site 1: Hamilton, Ontario, Camp 1
The Hamilton site worked with female youth who participated in a “Water” camp hosted at a local community farm. Exploring with researchers Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw (Western Ontario), Astrida Neimanis (University of Sydney), and graduate student Ashley Do Nascimento (Western University), this research was interested in looking at the Red Hill Valley creek in conjunction with the Hamilton Harbour, Windemere Basin and greater Lake Ontario. Throughout the research, youth and researchers engaged with the question “What’s in the water” as they simultaneously thought about past, present water practices, and reflected on the futurity of water in the area. This camp ran for a week in August 2018.
Camp 2
A second camp following a similar proposal to Camp 1 was held for a week in August 2019. Continuing to work with female youth, graduate student Ashley Do Nascimento (Western University) explored concepts and ideas expressed by the youth in relation to water pollution at the Hamilton Harbour and Lake Ontario. As a continuation from Camp 1 held the previous year, this camp focused on water pollution around the bay while extending conversation about connectivity, relationality, and the flow of water, while thinking simultaneously with and about Indigenous epistemologies.
This research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
