Swarovski Waterschool

Since 2000, the Swarovski Waterschool has educated children and communities on sustainable water use, helping to safeguard the availability of clean water and support the health and wellbeing  of people and the planet. In India, this program is especially crucial as the country is experiencing a water crisis due to changing weather patterns, repeated droughts, and an over-extraction of groundwater. 

To help solve this water crisis and to reach out to more students, Swarovski Waterschool and its implementing partner WWF India have teamed up with Mission Paani, a nationwide initiative focused on protecting India’s water resources and changing attitudes and behaviours to improve the efficiency of water use. Swarovski Waterschool is providing its local Waterschool curriculum to Mission Paani to be shared in thousands of schools across India to educate children about their relationship with the environment, specifically water, and how human behaviours have both negative and positive impacts on the natural world. By encouraging students to understand the water-related problems facing environments like wetlands and rivers, and how this effects their communities, they can begin to adopt sustainable habits that could become the norm for future generations.

  “We need to make people and children understand that water is a precious element.”
                   – Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO of WWF India

Another focus of the Swarovski Waterschool in India includes championing model villages. There are already 10 model villages involved in the project, where teaching not only focuses on students but also extends to local farmers. More than 800 farmers were trained in water conservation practices, as well as sanitation and sustainable agricultural practices to reduce water waste and the use of harmful chemicals (such as pesticides and fertilizers) on farmlands. The goal of this training was to show farmers how sustainable practices not only benefit the environment but can also lead to more prosperous crop yields.

Swarovski Waterschool also modified the water and sanitation of each model village by repairing government handpumps, a key source of freshwater in the villages, and constructing soak pits to reduce liquid and water waste. These efforts improved the drinking water of 1,500 households.

Swarovski Waterschool hopes that its continued work with students and farmers in India will reverse the country’s water crisis, creating a healthier and more sustainable environment for generations to come.
Learn more about the Swarovski Waterschool Programm