Water Wardens by Rowing - a deep dive into water conservation

Today, the final confernce for the Water Wardens by Rowing project was held at the headquarters of the French National Rowing Federation, on the outskirts of Paris. “Rowing and water: how to make rowing more sustainable” was the topic of this conference, held on World Water Day.

Water Wardens by Rowing was officially launched during the 2023 World Rowing Under 19 Championships in Paris, France. A collaboration project between the Federation Francaise d’Aviron and World Rowing and co-financed by the European Union, the project will monitor 400 French Rowing clubs, and is supported by, amongst others, the European Executive Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA), the IUCN, Sports4Nature…

Its main objectives are to raise awareness by making each Rowing community member responsible and aware, preserve the aquatic environment, support the practice of rowing and to observe the evolution of the practice in connection with climate issues.

The conference was co-animated by the FFA and Patricia Lambert, Strategic Advisor for Sustainability at World Rowing. In her introduction, Lambert mentioned that “to combat climate change and its impact on waters, World Rowing firmly believes in using the power of sport and inspiring our communities to take action, to bring positive change. Sustainability principles and objectives are integrated in our daily operations and decision-making processes. We carefully assess sustainability in all our actions and decisions, and implement a responsible and sustainable approach to the planning and implementation of our events. With this project, we aim to lead by example, and hopefully, open doors to other projects that will aim at protecting our waters”.

Participants to the conference had a chance to listen to different experts, including from the French Ministry of Sports and National Olympic Committee, talking in two round tables about “The evaluation and sustainable certification of events” and “The organising committee’s role in raising awareness about sustainability”.

While this was the final conference about Water Wardens by Rowing, the project represent a significant opportunity to inspire and engage the rowing community to implement water conservation strategies in their daily lives, amplify actions at club and national levels, and ultimately help create healthier, more resilient, vibrant and sustainable communities. A game plan has been developed, it is up to all of the rowing community to continue its implementation.

Photo thanks to Manon Cottrel – FFA