VISION, IMPACT, GUIDING PRINCIPLES

VISION

Coordinated, well-funded, and impactful education, outreach, and public engagement achieving measurable outcomes by 2025

IMPACT

Coloradans are engaged in well-informed community discourse and decision making regarding balanced water solutions, and are empowered to take thoughtful action regarding critical water challenges facing the state and their communities.

 

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

The following principles are implicit throughout this Plan and should guide the work of Colorado water educators participating in the Plan’s implementation. These principles are essential to meeting SWEAP outcomes effectively and equitably.

Balanced and reflective of tradeoffs
Water educators will strive to incorporate information into educational experiences that examines diverse perspectives as well as trade-offs for any given decision/action to the environment, public health, government, economies, and more.

Supportive of the Colorado Water Plan vision
Water educators will equip and empower the people of Colorado so that they can contribute to informed decision-making and forward progress on solutions that ultimately result in success for Colorado Water Plan objectives.

Objective and fact-based
Water educators will advance informed decisions and sustainable solutions by striving to present fair, objective, and instructionally sound information.

Achieved with strong partnerships and collaboration
Water educators will take a collaborative approach and seek to establish and maintain partnerships when pursuing a strategy to achieve shared outcomes.

Using a watershed approach
River basins and watersheds within Colorado serve as geographically defined organizing units for education, collaboration and study. Water educators recognize that incorporating a watershed context is foundational to teaching the Critical Water Concepts in this Plan.

Accessible, engaging, and striving for equity
Because all Coloradans are directly affected by water-related decisions, water educators will take an inclusive and equitable approach and will regularly evaluate strategies for their degree of success within marginalized communities. In addition, water education materials and professional development opportunities will incorporate culturally responsive practices.

Implemented across Colorado
Water educators will ensure that water education is accessible across the geographic range of Colorado. Water educators will strive to make content accessible and relevant in the communities in which they work and identify opportunities to reach underrepresented areas.

Adaptive and iterative in response to changing conditions
Implementation of strategies across Colorado and the effectiveness of those strategies in meeting statewide outcomes will be measured and reported by participating entities at regular intervals. Subsequent updates ​to this Plan will address gaps and new opportunities.