Through this project, an estimated 4300 hours of volunteer work spanning nearly 100 months has been sewn into the eco-tourism sector. A sector worth an estimated $90 Billion USD by 2030. Using this foundation, the Aquatic Biosphere is poised to provide a significant return for its community, in jobs, investment attraction, research and conservation. Donations are the catalyst for this change. Write your chapter - in The Story of Water.
The Aquatic Biosphere Project has grown significantly in the last eight years. Through brainstorming the project defined its purpose, through public engagement the project found its voice, and through an international base of knowledge, the project has found its strategy to break ground.
One of the significant additions is "The Story of Water." This idea came out of a musing over a cold beer on a hot summer day in 2018 (or was it at Sherlocks Pub in downtown Edmonton on a cold January night - whose significant ties to conservation made it a great forum for this project in those early days). What could be the absolute description of this project - the narrative that ties it all together?
Here it is: The Story of Water
This is a story that starts in the frigid icecaps of the Rockies. A Story that has defined a continent since it first crashed forth over a billion years ago. It is a story that connects Alberta to the entire world, through the arctic and the tropics and into the oceans. This is not just the water cycle, but the tangential cultural and biological threads in the story - a massive interconnected web of all that we are and all that we do.
...and the really cool part of the story - it starts right here in Alberta!
The Aquatic Biosphere can be likened to a Museum of Water. Museums are places where we store valuable objects of cultural significance. With climate change, microplastics, the expansion of industry and the simple fact that water is where we play - with these pressures, now more than ever has this become a crucial story to tell. This story carries great value, without question, and such a story should be told in a way that leaves visitors with a sense of majesty and reverence.
So, the idea has rooted, an eco-tourism destination attraction has been selected as the most exciting and impactful way to tell this story. This, at its core, is the Aquatic Biosphere Project. Check out our early concept art below.
The Aquatic Biosphere is entering a major phase in its development. A seed funding, or major gifts campaign in the world of non-profits is the search for the largest of donations - the catalysts for progress. The goal for the Aquatic Biosphere is to raise $5 Million.
You may ask why? What will $5 Million dollars do for your organization? The answer is complex, but let's break it down.
Since 2014, the Aquatic Biosphere Society of Canada has been volunteering driven. These individuals have been the beating heart of the organization. Over 70 have passed through as leaders, skilled labor, and experts in their fields. Not just local volunteers, these fantastic fish-loving folks have been coming forward from across Canada.
Along the way, there has been significant developments in education, with classroom pilot bringing curricula-based programming to young scholars in the k-7 space. Camp programs with Nature Ninjas and Aquaponics Bottle Gardens. A cable TV show, and web series though the spinoff venture the Aquatic Biosphere Network; and finally, the award winning Water We Doing (and How Can We Do It Better) podcast. This ambitious web of programming has a significant role to play in education, conservation, and bringing forward voices in the community - all part of the epic that is The Story of Water.
But volunteers come and go, and with that comes knowledge and progress. Simply put, donations equate well-deserved jobs rewarding an infallible passion in this community. Passion is the driver, but money is the resource that locks in knowledge and progress.
Now ask what would a bit of funding do for the vision of this project? To break ground on a new conservation and education center with amazing interactive exhibits, a beautiful museum of water, built from programs and knowledge gained over eight years and thousands of hours. And with that experience and passion, Edmonton can realize the immense value of this project, by tapping into the uber- valuable eco-tourism sector.
With tourism dollars flowing into the Capitol region, resulting in jobs, and the growth of adjacent businesses - suddenly this little fish becomes not so little. A drop is ready to turn to a stream, to a river, to an ocean of good, for The Story of Water.
How will you write your chapter in this story?
For more information, or to make a donation, please contactus@aquaticbiosphere.org, or visit our website: aquaticbiosphere.ca/donate
