The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC) (Photo courtesy of National Great Rivers Research and Education Center)

An international environmental education program, dedicated to maintaining the great river systems of the world, is coming to the banks of the Mississippi; thanks to a new partnership between one of the world’s leading crystal jewelry houses and Lewis and the Clark Community College’s (LCCC) National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC) in East Alton.

Already established along five of the great rivers of the world — the Danube in Austria, the Ganges in India, the Yangtze in China, the Nile in Uganda, and the Amazon in Brazil, the Swarovski Waterschool is slated to open its first North American program at the Metro-East research center in 2017

Swarovski Waterschool operations are centered around three “pillars” — access to safe water, water education, and water sanitation and hygiene, according to school literature.  Working with local partners, NGOs, schools and government partners, Swarovski focuses primarily on teaching children, ages 8 to 15, about environmental, economic, social and cultural issues affecting water use on a local and global level.

It also facilitates programs to provide clean drinking water and sanitation in schools and communities.

Detailed plans for the new Metro-East Swarovski Waterschool program are now under development. Administrators as the Great Rivers Center initiated a six-month planning process in July. A final plan is to be submitted to the Swarovski Waterschool’s headquarters in Austria by the end of January.

Beginning in early 2017, Swarovski will provide about $75,000 annually for three years to sponsor the new education program. The crystal-makers is already providing $25,566 to cover the cost of the six-month planning process.

Funds will go toward educational resources, teacher workshops and resources, and support for local school districts. Staff from LCCCC and Great Rivers Research Center will jointly implement the program.

“Partnering with Swarovski to develop a Swarovski Waterschool on the Mississippi River is an exciting way to further our educational mission,” said Natalie Marioni, the center’s director of Environmental Education and Citizen Science. “This program will empower students to become stewards of change within their river communities while connecting them with Swarovski Waterschool students along other major rivers of the world to provide a global perspective.”

Planning for the new Swarovski Waterschool here comes following the release of the American Watershed Initiative’s (AWI) first American Watershed Report Card, earlier this year; warning of a ranging of environmental and economic issues in the Upper Mississippi River Watershed.

The AWI is joint project of 125 non-governmental organizations, key federal agencies, large private landowners, industry, tribal nations, academia, and community organizations led in part by The Nature Conservancy.

It is part of a larger, global initiative, coordinated by the Nature Conservancy to oversee development and regulation in the watersheds of the same five rivers included in the Swarovski Waterschool Program.

The NGRREC in 2014 announced plans for development of an international Great Rivers Ecological Observatory Network (GREON) of internet-connected water quality monitoring platforms — initially on major rivers throughout the United States and then around the world.

The GREON essentially expands a system of river buoys used by the Great Rivers Center and the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) to monitor water quality on Illinois rivers for the past 20 years. The NGRREC is to remain the headquarters and data collection point for the expanded international network.

Swarovski, a leading manufacturer of cut crystal jewelry and collectables, has maintained an active interest in water and water preservation since the firm was founded along the banks of the Danube in Austria more than 120 years ago, according to company literature.

Water-driven cutting tools, developed by the company founder, allowed Swarovski to become the world’s firm mass marketer of cut crystal items — including decorative crystals that became a fashion staple in the 1920s.

Known for their trademarked swan logo, Swarovski cut crystal is today found in jewelry shops around the world. Swarovski’s owners remain aware of hydropower as an import element in the company’s development, according to Nadja Swarovski, a member of the Swarovski Executive Board.

“Water continues to be fundamental to our company, and more than ever we understand its place as the source of all life on the planet,” said Swarovski. “This is why, in everything we do to give back to the wider world, we choose to put water first.”

In 2000, Swarovski set up its first waterschool, near its riverside Australian facilities, to teach children and local communities about safe hygiene practices and the importance of freshwater conservation.

Swarovski approached NGRREC about a Waterschool on the Mississippi in 2014.

— International waterschool program coming to Metro-East —