Video summary
The Water Mirrors project challenges the conventional assumption that solutions developed in the Global North are universally applicable or superior for communities in the South, proposing instead a model of direct collaboration between regions within the developing world. Supported by the Water and Development Partnership Program and coordinated by the IICh Institute for water education, this initiative connects three distinct territories across Colombia, Mexico, Egypt, and Kenya to address specific local challenges such as wetland conservation, agricultural water reuse, and groundwater pollution education. By bringing these separated communities together, the project transforms them from isolated case studies into active partners who can learn directly from one another's experiences without relying on external mediators, fostering a new paradigm where knowledge flows horizontally between Global South nations.
To overcome significant barriers such as language differences, cultural contexts, and time zones, the teams utilized digital tools like subtitles, auto-translations, and AI chatbots to build initial trust before engaging in deeper interaction. The collaboration evolved through various stages, starting with sharing stories and landscapes online, progressing to virtual exchanges using creative metaphors like "superpowers" and "kryptonite," and culminating in physical visits where participants could see the places they had only known from photos and videos firsthand. These face-to-face encounters allowed community leaders and farmers to recognize their shared struggles and strengths, leading to profound connections that transcended borders; for instance, indigenous leaders in Colombia found a strong sense of brotherhood with Mexican farmers who faced similar wetland conservation issues, realizing they could exchange practical solutions tailored to their unique environments.
The outcomes of these interactions varied depending on the specific context but consistently demonstrated how local innovations can inspire policy and practice improvements elsewhere. In some mirrors like Baja California and Egypt, where authorities were unresponsive locally, international partnerships opened new avenues for advancing water reuse technologies inspired by ancient civilizations in Egypt. Conversely, the connection between Antioquia in Colombia and Lamu Island in Kenya highlighted the unique difficulty of communicating about invisible resources like groundwater across vast distances and cultural divides, requiring creative strategies such as podcasts, workshops, and physical models to educate communities effectively. These experiences proved that even when facing vastly different terrains and challenges, shared problems could be addressed through mutual learning rather than simple comparison.
Ultimately, the project concludes that true empowerment comes from recognizing each other as mirrors where one sees oneself reflected in another's journey, allowing for a richer exchange of ideas and solutions. By meeting face-to-face to share lessons learned and acknowledge their respective hurdles, representatives discovered new ways to imagine collective solutions that honor local realities while leveraging global insights available within the South itself. This approach not only improves living conditions by solving specific water challenges but also reinforces the vital principle that knowledge is a shared resource that can flow freely between communities when they stop viewing each other as distant case studies and start engaging as equals committed to sustainable development under ecosystem constraints.
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We tend to think that since knowledge is
centralized in the global north, the
solutions they have found to their
problems should be the same or very
similar to those needed by the glob and
south. But what happens when countries
in the glob and south stop being just
case studies and start talking and
learning from one another? What happens
when two communities separated by
distance, language or culture discover
that they face very similar problems and
that the local solutions one has found
can be useful to the other.
That is a question that inspires what
mirrors a project supported by the water
and development [music] partnership
program in collaboration with CER
programs and coordinated by the IICh
Institute for water education. In our
project, a mirror is not just a
comparison. A mirror is the encounter
[music] between two cases, territories
and communities facing similar water
related challenges which had never
before had the opportunity to meet,
interact and learn from one another and
discover that they can see themselves
reflecting each other. Tree territories
in the global south were connected with
tree [music] territories in Colombia,
Bota and Mexico focusing on the
conservation of Urvat wetlands in El
Tumho and Soimil respectively dela
[music] and Egypt regarding the reuse of
water for irrigation in Aeroot and Fume
[music] respectively and Antio Kenya
regarding community education on
groundwater pollution [music] in Antio
and Lammo Island respectively. But this
raises an important question. How do we
bring together people who may not speak
the same language, who live in different
cultural contexts, who don't yet realize
how much [music] they have in common,
and who don't know what to expect. At IH
Delft, we support this initial
interaction with videos, activities,
[music]
and exercises to facilitate the first
steps, not just as project partners,
[music] but as teams committed to
improving the living conditions of
[music] their fellow citizens by solving
local water challenges.
>> Passed by on the street selling and I
dropped this on. First, they share
information about their regions, their
stories, their landscapes, and their
communities.
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formest
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[singing]
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[music and singing]
a
>> [music]
[music]
>> the Foreign
speech. Foreign speech.
for
Mexico.
>> [music]
>> forational.
[music]
Fore!
Foreign! Foreign!
Fore!
Foreign! Foreign!
[music]
Foreign [music]
[music]
speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.
[music]
for
[music]
me.
Muslim.
Fore! Foreign! Foreign!
Department
[music]
superst
>> [music]
[music]
>> Hello everybody. Our project is called
groundwater sustainable and equitable
development under constraints of
ecosystem conservation and so inclusion
prevention in large deltas and we
abbreviate it GWS
SNE
that is what uh we have as our project
and we focus on a number of issues. One
is looking at the issue of increasing
solidity of groundwater due to sea level
rise and also obstruction by people who
need it the communities the stakeholders
and others. We are also interested in
looking at the issues of pollution which
are related to this as well as the
importance of the interaction of
groundwater and surface water including
oceans uh because these are really key
for keeping mango ecosystems healthy and
robust.
And to bridge the language gap, we use
tools like subtitles, auto translations,
Google translate and chat [music] GPT.
Because before talking about solutions,
it's necessary to build trust.
>> Then came a crucial stage. How can we
get these teams to communicate without
always relying on the global north to
act as a mediator? That's when [music] a
very powerful metaphor emerged.
Superpowers and kryptonite. Each region
had extrens [music] that could inspire
others but also had weaknesses,
challenges, [music] and unanswered
questions. For nearly a year, the mirror
began to operate more independently.
They interact online [music]
continuously. Then they visited each
other. They got to know in person the
places [music] they had previously only
seen in photos, videos, and stories. And
those visits [music]
sparkle the conversation and help the
mirrors to identify useful lessons to be
learned.
The results [music] were not the same
across all the mirrors. In some cases
such as Bootan, [music]
Mexico City, sharing a common language
and history led to a very strong
connection [music]
almost a brotherhood. This interaction
reached the community level where the
[music] Muisa community leaders from
Boota saw themselves reflected in the
Chinapa farmers of SoiO in Mexico. In
addition to their similarities, [music]
they discovered various solutions they
could exchange to conserve [music]
wetlands. Also, when local authorities
fail to respond, seeking for
international partnership can open
[music] up new possibilities
in other mirrors such as Baja [music]
and Egypt. Although the issues were
similar, the territories and the context
were very different. Seeing how Egypt
[music] has advanced in water reuse
since ancient civilizations through
technology, community and local
governments [music]
inspire improvements in reuse policies
in Colombia. [music]
And the mirror of Anukia and Kenya
presented the most complex challenge not
only because groundwater is invisible
but also due to distances, [music]
cultural differences, languages, and
time zones.
How to communicate what cannot be seen.
Strategies [music] such as podcast,
workshops, and physical models help to
imagine new ways to educate and connect
with the community.
And today in this room for the first
time representatives from all the
mirrors are meeting face to [music] face
not just to present results but to share
lessons learned [music]
acknowledge challenges. And remember
that knowledge can also flow from south
to south. Because [music] when two
regions
see each other as mirrors, they don't
just compare their problems. [music]
They also discovered new ways to imagine
solutions together.
[music]
Heat. Heat.
[music]
Heat. Heat.
[music]