World Water Day 2022

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 1:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Drawn image of groundwater percolating through rocks
Join the Water Institute World Water Day 2022 celebrations.

More information, including speaker profiles, can be seen on the World Water Day event website.


1:00 - 2:30 PM

Speaker headshots for A cross-country checkup event
A Cross-Country Checkup on Canada’s Groundwater: Perspectives on the Future of one of Canada’s most Valuable Resources

The United Nations has chosen the theme Groundwater: Making the Invisible, Visible for the 2022 World Water Day celebrations. Join us as we explore the vast diversity of Canada’s groundwater resources from coast to coast to coast with a panel of leading hydrogeologists from across the country. We will explore current and future challenges facing one of Canada’s most critical, yet underappreciated natural resources with a view towards sustainable management in a changing world.

(Virtual event)


4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Speaker headshots for Legacy of Environmental Racism event
The Legacy of Environmental Racism in North America: Perspectives from Canada and the United States

This event will feature presentations from two high-profile advocates who are leading community-level resistance movements against environmental racism followed by an interactive, student-led discussion.

Dr. Ingrid Waldron is the 2022 Water Institute RBC Distinguished Lecturer, HOPE Chair in Peace and Health at McMaster University and author/producer of the book and Netflix documentary There’s Something in the Water. Dr. Waldron will examine the legacy of environmental racism in Canada by highlighting cases in Indigenous and Black communities, the grassroots mobilization and resistance activities communities have engaged in, and the recent "wins" that have resulted from these efforts. 

Monica Lewis-Patrick is the 2022 University of Waterloo Jarislowsky Fellow, co-founder of We the People of Detroit, and known in the environmental justice community as The Water Warrior. Ms. Lewis Patrick will describe how five Black women leaders in Detroit developed a network of volunteers to fight austerity measures and present a critical counter narrative to show the socio- economic consequences of these policies on access to clean water in Detroit and across the USA.

(Virtual event)


6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

World Water Day Evening Social

Join us after University of Waterloo World Water Day activities at the Huether Hotel in Uptown Waterloo for an opportunity to network and socialize in-person with other attendees.