Watertrek

Watertrek’s mission is to raise awareness and alert about the need to protect aquatic ecosystems threatened by plastic pollution, global warming and toxic chemicals. Watertrek organizes expeditions combining sports (stand-up paddling and walking treks), citizen science and collaborative art, a three-prong approach combining motion, education and creation. It also proposes water-themed contents and renditions of these adventures.

THE STAND-UP PADDLE TO START MOVING


The stand-up paddle or SUP is a derivative of the Hawaiian canoe, the ancestor of modern surfing, used by Polynesian kings. It is practiced standing up, with a paddle.

AN INDIVIDUAL VISION, A GLOBAL CHALLENGE

Séverine Vasselin founded the association Watertrek in 2013 after practicing stand-up paddling for the first time on the Côte Bleue near Marseille in the South of France.

“This experience was a true revelation, a change of perspective that was at once physical, sensorial, social and spiritual, a shift in my esthetic viewpoint of the landscape. Standing up on the water, in a physical posture requiring balance, far from the land, it seemed essentiel to me to remind everyone of the beauty of life we are an integral part of, and of the importance of relearning how to see and feel, away from any form of anthropocentrism."

OUR SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITIONS TO DOCUMENT POLLUTION

Watertrek organizes long and short distance paddle expeditions. These initiatives - mostly on rivers - have a scientific and cartographic vocation, allowing us to collect information on the quantity, the source and type of waste and pollution present in water. It also enables us to physically connect to the ecosystem.

The projects led by Watertrek are in line with three of the Sustainable Development Goals as defined by the UN:

Sustainable Development Goals 06Sustainable Development Goals 13Sustainable Development Goals 14


Watertrek feeds citizen science platforms in collaboration with its partners (Surfrider Foundation Europe, Freshwater Watch in Oxford, DryRivers in Lyon). The association is a member of the Steering Committee involved in protecting Transfer Routes launched by the French Ministry for Energy Transition. It participates in the  identification and mapping of waste accumulation zones observed on banks with the CEREMA.

AN ARTISTIC APPROACH TO ENRICH OUR VISION OF THE LANDSCAPE 

To provoke engagement and connect with others you need to feel moved.  As a result all our expeditions integrate esthetic, artistic, and collaborative dimensions.

“The ecological crisis is above all a crisis of sensitivity.”

Baptiste Morizot

Un œuvre d'art réalisée à partir de déchets ramassés

OUR STORIES

Expedition renditions and conferences, screenings of our documentary and fiction movies, exhibitions and podcasts: Watertrek shares its experiences using various audiovisual and artistic formats, as many supports to alert on water preservation. We welcome everyone wanting to host these creative initiatives.

OUR PARTNERS

Microsoft
Cifacom
Climate Reality
Break free from plastic
Carbone 4
Plastic Origins
Garn
Plastic Coalition
Redesa
France Nature
UNO Environement
Sup Norway
Le grand huit
Freshwater
Surfrider
Plastic free july
Ministère de la transition écologique
Lush
Ocean Viking
Restube
StarBoard
SupPassion
All our partners

News

London Paddle & Pick Campaign

April this year London was the scene for the launch of the first Paddle & Pick campaign which aims to draw attention to the problem of plastic pollution in our waterways. 80% of the rubbish found in our oceans comes from mainland Europe and unfortunately the Thames is part of the waterways that carry the […]

Watertrek joining the Cambodia Kids Care Center for a plastic pollution operation

Christmas 2015: Watertrek is heading to the The Cambodia Kids Care Center, a children's shelter hosting Cambodian, Malay and Vietnamese kids located on the island of Koh Chang to develop an environmental education program with them. Forty children from 4 to 13 years are being taken care of by Uan. The children live frugally, they […]

Watertrek to support the #Osons Call on Climate during COP 21

A few days before the opening of the COP 21 in Paris, Watertrek has decided to support Nicolas Hulot - well-known French Activist and Special Envoy of the French Presidency for the Protection of Planet Earth -  through a campaign published on its social media platforms inviting each of us to sign his call "Daring". […]

Interview Sup Addict de notre cofondatrice Séverine pour SUP PASSION

https://sup-passion.com/portrait-severine-vasselin-sup-addict-watertrek/  
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