Science
Building understanding through evidence, enquiry and curiosity.
About Water Week
Why we're building a global movement for a more water-secure future.
Water Week grew from a belief that securing our water future requires investment not only in infrastructure, science and technology — but in people.
In what we understand. What we value. How we participate. And what we are empowered to change.
Why Water Week?
It started underwater.
Katy Newnham · Founder, Wastebuster & Water Week
I began my career as an underwater photographer, fortunate enough to experience some of the world's most extraordinary marine environments. But I also witnessed what was happening to them.
During a severe El Niño event, I saw stretches of once-vibrant reef devastated in a matter of months. I saw plastic pollution reaching places that seemed impossibly remote. I realised that documenting what was happening wasn't enough.
Observation had to become action.
I came to believe that one of the most powerful levers for long-term environmental change is education — not education that simply tells people there is a problem, but education that helps people understand their relationship with it and gives them the confidence and agency to act. That realisation led me to create Wastebuster.
And eventually, it brought me back to water.
Over the years, that work has grown into an education network reaching more than 24,000 schools across 94 countries, using science, storytelling and participation to turn complex environmental issues into learning and action. Now, that experience is the foundation of Water Week.
From my Water Story to ours
From My Water Story to ours
Every story is different. Together, they become our shared Water Story.
Everyone has a relationship with water — and everyone has a story to tell. But Water Week is about more than collecting individual stories. It is about connecting them.
The stories of scientists and engineers. Farmers and fishers. Communities and businesses. Teachers and young people. Different places, experiences, challenges, knowledge and solutions.
Together, they can help us understand the bigger story we are all part of — and the future we share. A future where we work together to protect water from source to sea; where people understand their role as water stewards; and where the next generation has the knowledge, tools and mindset to continue that journey.
Our stories may begin in different places. But they are part of one shared story — and one shared future.
Social infrastructure
Water security needs more than physical infrastructure. It also depends on people.
Science, engineering, technology, policy, conservation and investment are essential. But lasting water security also depends on society: what people understand, the decisions they participate in, the knowledge they share and their capacity to act.
We call this social infrastructure.
- Understanding
- Participation
- Collaboration
- Agency
- Shared learning
- Action
Water Week is designed to strengthen this human infrastructure alongside the physical infrastructure on which water security depends.
Our education philosophy
Education is one of the foundations of water security.
We believe every child and young person has the right to understand water, connect with their local environment and discover how they can make a positive difference. For almost 20 years, our experience has shown the profound difference that can be made when science and storytelling are brought together.
Science helps us understand water. Stories help us connect that knowledge to people, places and possibility. Participation turns understanding into action.
Storytelling
Making knowledge meaningful through real stories and experiences.
STEAM learning
Connecting science, technology, engineering, arts and maths in real-world contexts.
Participation
Empowering learners to take action in their own communities.
Local and global
Rooted in local places, connected to global challenges.
We explore water through seven connected themes
- Water & life
- Water in nature
- Water & food
- Water & places
- Water innovation
- Water action
- Water futures
From freshwater to marine environments. From agriculture and cities to ecosystems, engineering and climate resilience.
Our theory of change
How Water Week creates impact
There are more than two billion children and young people in the world — and billions of relationships with water. No organisation can reach them alone. Water Week is built on the belief that by connecting knowledge, stories, people and participation, we can accelerate learning and action together.
Individual learning journey
- Curiosity
- Understanding
- Agency
- Action
Curiosity opens the door. Understanding builds knowledge. Agency builds confidence and the belief that change is possible. Action turns knowledge into something meaningful.
Wider Water Week impact cycle
- Participation
- Evidence
- Shared learning
- Better decisions
- Greater water security
Participation generates experience and real-world data. Evidence helps us understand what works. Shared learning allows successful approaches to travel. Better decisions support stronger policy, investment and innovation. And the learning feeds back into the system so we can continually improve.
Act. Learn. Share. Improve.
This is how Water Week moves from awareness to action — and from action to lasting change.
The journey so far
From an idea to a growing global initiative.
2006
Wastebuster founded
2023
UN Water Conference
The Water Action Agenda creates new momentum for global collaboration.
2023–2026
Water Week develops
Drawing on almost two decades of experience in large-scale environmental education and engagement.
UK Parliament
Engaging policymakers
Engaging policymakers and building cross-sector understanding. Parliament film to be added.
Royal Geographical Society
Bringing perspectives together
Bringing together perspectives from water, science, education, business and civil society. RGS film to be added.
2026
Consultation and co-design
Water Week is actively being shaped with organisations, specialists, educators, young people and prospective partners.
26 August 2026
SIWI World Water Week, Stockholm
Water Week is introduced to the international water community.
Timeline photography and films to be added as they are supplied.
Credibility
Built on experience. Shaped with others.
Secretariat
Wastebuster CIC
UNEP-accredited NGO.
Global context
UN Water Action Decade
Developed in support of the aims of the UN Water Action Decade 2018–2028.
The People
People behind and helping shape Water Week.
Water Week is being shaped by people bringing different experience, expertise and perspectives from across water, education, storytelling, business and the next generation.
Behind Water Week
Katy Newnham
Founder, Water Week & CEO, Wastebuster
Founder of Water Week, connecting environmental education and public engagement with the expertise of the water community.
David Ingham
Water Week Programme Development & Wastebuster Programmes Manager
Helping develop Water Week through cross-sector collaboration, environmental education and practical public participation.
Helping shape Water Week
Aneeshwar Kunchala
Global Youth Ambassador
Shaun Stevens
Water Industry Contributor
Jocelyn Stevenson
Storytelling & Education Contributor
Katie Bunce
Legal & Cross-sector Contributor
Professor Peter Flew
Education Contributor
Helena Mansell-Stopher
Sustainability & Industry Contributor
Organisations contributing to the journey
Through advice, expertise, collaboration, in-kind support or involvement in the development of Water Week. Logos shown subject to permissions.
Go deeper
Explore the thinking behind Water Week.
For those who would like to understand the ambition, principles and proposed framework in greater detail.
This story is still being written.
Water Week is being shaped by the people and organisations who choose to become part of it. Add your voice, share your expertise and help shape what comes next.