Wonderful Watersheds

Wandering Waters Seminar Series

Join PA IPL for a series that invites you to wander through Pennsylvania’s watersheds – their problems, their people, and how we can protect them. We’ll hear from experts at each session including grassroots leaders and organizers, academics, riverkeepers, protection agencies, and congregations. Together, let’s get inspired to practice faith-based stewardship of the waters that flow through the Keystone state!

“What’s a watershed?” you might ask. Watersheds are “areas or ridges of land that separate waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas”. We have six of them here in Pennsylvania, and everybody lives in one! This seminar series is designed to be an introduction to watersheds so don’t be intimidated if you don’t know much (yet!), but people with watershed literacy are also welcome and encouraged to join! There will be interactive pieces of the seminar series and the more cross-learning we can share with each other, the better.

Introduction to Watershed Stewardship

October 29, 2024

What is a watershed? What is watershed stewardship? As our climate is changing, we are seeing impacts to these vital ecosystems. Congregations, community groups, and people of faith and conscience have an important role to play in caring for and stewarding our watersheds. Join us for a launch conversation with experts who will share more about how we define watersheds, the climate impacts we are witnessing in our Pennsylvania watersheds, who these impacts are affecting most, and how people of faith and conscience are rising to the call to steward our shared waters.

Watersheds and Their Problems

November 19, 2024

In this session of our Wandering Waters seminar series, we host an interactive conversation with some of Pennsylvania’s waterkeepers! Waterkeepers are a crucial part of keeping Pennsylvania waters safe and healthy for all of us. The work of waterkeepers varies as much as our watersheds do! Our waterkeepers share more about their work and the biggest problems facing Pennsylvania’s waterways. Ever wondered what the most common types of water pollutants are? Wonder no longer as we hear from the experts who spend their time intimately acquainted with the beautiful and the ugly of our waterways.

Watersheds and Their Protection

December 10, 2024

In our third seminar, we hear from folks who hold responsibility to protect and regulate Pennsylvania’s waterways. A representative from the PA Department of Environmental Protection as well as the Environmental Protection Agency Region 3 join us on this call to share about the water work their offices are engaged in. We additionally hear from experts in water policy and conservation about some of the ways they are working on the ground and in the halls of power to enact positive change for our waterways.

Watersheds and Their People

January 14, 2025

In our final session in this series, we learn from the experience of communities who have embarked on watershed stewardship journeys. We hear the stories of congregations, each sharing about a watershed project they undertook, what inspired them to do it, and what impacts this has had on their community. We also hear from Monte Garber at Stroud Water Research Center about some small and big steps congregations can take to begin stewarding waters in their local community.

Watershed Circle

The Watershed Circle is a coaching cohort designed specifically for congregations and community groups looking to take their FIRST or NEXT watershed step. The cohort meets monthly on Zoom for six months, graduating as a Community Watershed Protector with an identified or implemented Community Watershed Project in-hand.

Community Watershed Protectors can be brand new to watersheds or experienced leaders who are looking for support in mobilizing their community or dreaming up a new project. Community Watershed Projects can be education, planning, or implementation focused. More details are available in the application including examples of different types of projects that the program can support.

The program is built around 5 key values:

Faith responsive – that is, we are seeking to provide support that is responsive to the unique opportunities and challenges that arise in faith and value-based settings

Community led – that is, we are seeking to resource communities in identifying and leading change in their watershed from the ground up (no forced solutions here!)

Environmental Justice – that is, we are seeking to center environmental justice as a praxis from which our work emerges and grows (more on our commitment to EJ here)

Peer learning – that is, we recognize that we are not the sole experts but that our role is to unlock the wisdom and expertise of lived experience in the room

Project coaching – that is, we recognize that access to technical expertise and project coaching can be difficult and confusing, and we are committed to sharing resources and referrals that equip and empower communities to take watershed action

Meeting Dates & Topics:

  • January 23, 2025 7-8:30PM – Identifying a Community Watershed Project
  • February 20, 2025 7-8:30PM – Building Buy In for a Community Watershed Project
  • March 20, 2025 7-8:30PM – Overcoming Barriers to the Community Watershed Project
  • April 17, 2025 7-8:30PM – Getting your Community Watershed Project Funded
  • May 15, 2025 7-8:30PM – Telling your Community Watershed Project Story
  • June 19, 2025 7-8:30PM – Community Watershed Project Incubator Night

There is no cost to the program and those who successfully complete the program will become part of our Community Water Protectors class. The application for the current cohort is now closed as they are now in session. If you are interested in learning more about this program or our other offerings, please drop us a line at info@paipl.org.

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