UNICEF Youth Leading in Water Resilience

Sustainability and Recommendations 9

With the active phase of the Youth Leading in Water Resilience Project concluding, a critical focus is on sustainability – ensuring that the positive changes, activities, and networks established will endure and grow. This section outlines strategies for sustaining grassroots momentum and provides key recommendations (both at the community level and policy level) to achieve long-term impact on water resilience in South Africa.

Grassroots Sustainability Strategies The project was intentionally designed to leave behind capacity and structures that can continue independently. Several strategies are in place or recommended at the community level.

Empowered School Eco-Clubs through the WESSA Eco-Schools Programme

The establishment of water-focused learner committees and eco-clubs within schools has been a key pillar for ensuring the sustainability of this initiative. These trained and empowered groups will continue conducting regular water quality monitoring as part of their school routine, fostering a culture of environmental stewardship. To sustain their impact, schools are encouraged to integrate eco-club activities into the science curriculum, allocate time during assemblies for progress reports, and support a peer mentorship model, where senior learners train and guide younger students. WESSA will continue to provide guidance and resources through the Eco-Schools Programme, ensuring that these clubs remain active and effective in promoting water conservation, climate resilience, and community engagement. This ongoing support will help embed environmental awareness into the school’s ethos, encouraging long-term participation in sustainability efforts. Educators have been trained to use the WaterCAN data platform, enabling schools to keep logging results and tracking their water status over time. By embedding these practices into school culture potentially as part of an environmental science syllabus or geography fieldwork, the act of water monitoring becomes a sustained educational activity rather than a one-off project. Some project schools have already decided to include water quality checks in their Natural Sciences classes and have asked for the project’s training content to remain with them for future use – an encouraging sign of institutionalization at the school level. Training of Teachers

Water quality testing Youth Training Northern Cape.

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