Water, Technology, and Resistance: A Ripple Effects Inquiry by Monica Gadsby

Essential Question

How do global technological infrastructures—like data centres—impact local and global water systems, and what responsibilities do we hold as digital citizens in an era of ecological crisis?

Project Summary

This inquiry-based project engages a Grade 12 Global Issues class in a critical exploration of the intersection between water justice, technological expansion, and ecological responsibility. Set in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the project invites students to examine both global and local implications of digital infrastructure, using the proposed Google data centre in Uruguay as a case study. This real-world example, unfolding during a national drought, serves as a powerful entry point into questions of environmental transparency, political accountability, and corporate responsibility.

The project is grounded in a multi-phase approach that blends academic research, creative

expression, and community engagement. Students begin by reconnecting with water through sensory observation and gratitude practices along the Red River, fostering relational awareness and emotional resonance. They then investigate how data centre’s function and map their potential impacts on local ecosystems and communities, reframing this work as a decolonial counter-mapping practice.

Purpose, Problem, Focus, and Significance

The purpose of this project is to cultivate critical digital literacy and ecological consciousness in youth. It addresses the urgent problem of water exploitation by tech industries and the invisibility of environmental costs in digital life. The focus is on fostering relational responsibility and activism through interdisciplinary, arts-based inquiry. Its significance lies in empowering students to see themselves as agents of change—capable of questioning dominant narratives and advocating for sustainable futures.