We were so proud to be part of this year’s World Water Day Symposium, OASIS at Temple University! Nagiarry Porcena-Meneus, Community Organizer and Geoffrey Selling, volunteer Streamkeeper represented TTF on a panel titled Wavelength, alongside The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and TheWaterways.org.
OASIS is a day of education and dance with three sections; Whirl, a dance class taught by Camara Arts; Wavelength, a panel discussion on art, activism, and science, led by Temple Professor Fletcher Chmara-Huff; and Water Works, a dance performance. The event is scheduled in observance of the United Nations Day of Action to raise public attention to the critical water issues of our era.
OASIS’s mission is not only to observe and celebrate World Water Day, but to invite the Philadelphia community to stay informed and involved with the issues that surround water today. Water has been privatized in many places around the globe with devastating consequences for the communities whose water is sold to large corporations. Philadelphia’s waterways are full of plastic, and our sewer system dumps into our streams. And yet, the Pennsylvania Constitution guarantees clean water as a right. OASIS, as a symposium, explores and advocates for useful responses to a global crisis that threatens the stability and subsequent motility of all living bodies.
The conversation among panelists focused on sharing their stories and work. It was an opportunity for like-minded people to share perceptions and develop collaborations. The panelists talked about the value of intentionality, what hails us (inspires us) to do the work that we do and how our work contributes to the theme of World Water Day this year, titled “No one left behind, water as a right for all”.
Thank you to Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple Office of Sustainability, Geography and Urban Studies/Environmental Studies Department, and Cinematic and Performing Arts Dean’s Advisory Board for making this symposium possible.
