2022

Project Objective

The PCWF shapes children’s attitudes about the importance of water and it’s use, consumption, protection, and conservation, for all living things.

May 2002, the Peterborough Children’s Water Festival (PCWF) held its first event at the Riverview Park and Zoo. Since the beginning, PCWF’s main objective has been to foster awareness in our youth about the importance of water, as a key to ensuring high quality water for future generations and the health of our environment.

The PCWF is a member of the Children’s Water Education Council and is one of many children’s water festivals from across Ontario working towards this objective each year. Locally, the PCWF brings together the expertise of educators, water specialists, conservation groups, industry, and government from across Peterborough to effectively deliver current and relevant messages about water on a set of themes:

• Water conservation – the responsible use of water in our daily lives.
• Water cultural perspectives – historical and present-day uses of water and attitudes toward water.
• Water technology – how water is treated, stored and distributed throughout the community.
• Water protection – the interdependence of water, soil, plants, animals, and people, and positive steps people can take to keep water clean; and
• Water science – the water cycle, surface and groundwater flow, and aquatic environments.

The specific goals of the PCWF are to: nurture an appreciation of water in our youth, build an awareness of their relationship with water, and inspire them to take action in their daily lives to protect and conserve water.

For many years, the Peterborough Children’s Water Festival (PCWF) has successfully demonstrated the benefit and power of collaborative water education within Peterborough and the Kawarthas. In total, 26,788 elementary students and 6,326 teachers and parent helpers have attended the PCWF to celebrate water and their relationship with it.