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.
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."
Watertrek organizes long and short distance paddle expeditions. These initiatives - mostly on rivers - have both 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:
Our expeditions integrate both esthetic, artistic, and collaborative dimensions.
“The ecological crisis is above all a crisis of sensitivity.”
Baptiste Morizot
