Navigating the waterscapes
Children's expressions and perspectives of water across Aotearoa, Norway, and Tanzania
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19224847 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elin Eriksen Ødegaard (0000-0001-7784-658X, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, corresponding author), Aihua Hu (0000-0002-7503-7321, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences), Nemes Danstan Benguye (0009-0009-1971-0751, Education and Early Childhood Development), Ngaroma Williams (0000-0002-6775-024X, University of Canterbury), Veronica Bergan (0000-0002-2159-9011, The Arctic University of Norway), Laurent Gabriel Ndijuye (0000-0001-7712-6814, De Kinderkliniek), E Jayne White (0000-0002-1467-8125, University of Canterbury) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Children s Geographies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1473-3277 • E-ISSN: 1473-3285 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14733285.2026.2662332 |
| OpenAlex | W7155838126 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
Water plays a significant role in the lives of children, yet their perspectives are rarely included in environmental debates. Environmental learning is often framed around human benefit; this study instead examines the significance of water and waterscapes through children’s relationships and entanglements with them. The exploratory study investigates children’s geographies and meaning-making as they explore local water sources and waterscapes, aiming to support holistic early childhood education and care for a shared, sustainable world. Researchers in Aotearoa New Zealand, Norway, and Tanzania collaborated with 270 children and teachers in early childhood settings. A dialogic and ecological framework connects children’s meaning-making with political perspectives at local, national, and global levels, alongside more-than-human geographies, cultural narratives, myths, and spiritual stories. The study shows how children explore and express “water,” and how these engagements shape early learning. Findings highlight sociopolitical and sociocultural dimensions of water as children navigate its sources, uses, and meanings, offering hope for climate change education. They also reveal tensions in how formal ECEC curricula address water, including scientific and cultural understandings, embodied and symbolic dimensions, and advocacy for water’s care and preservation
Ethnography · Government (linguistics) · Tanzania · Work (physics) · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Children's Rights and Participation · Water Governance and Infrastructure
A future for the world's children? A WHO–Unicef–Lancet Commission
Posthuman literacies
Kaupapa Māori Assessment
Speculative spaces
Research with Children
Actions and actors driving transformative change for global sustainability
The UNCRC
Children and young people living through the monsoon
The comfort of the river
Multispecies collaboratories
Sustainability education
Dynamics of Human–Water Interactions in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania
Conceptualising arts-based learning in the early years
Starting with trees
Modernity and Hybridity
Informal environmental learning
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
Footprints through the weather-world
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |