Who we are!
Water Flows Forward is a national project of The Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans which seeks to educate, innovate, and move designers, creators, and thought leaders to think deeply about the impacts of climate change and how it impacts vulnerable and BIPOC communities in the Gulf South through climate adaptive tools that serve dual purposes.
The Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans is a 501c3 based in the historic lands of the Mississippi Delta. Known as Bulbancha and occupied by over 20 different indigenous tribes, Southeast Louisiana has always been the land of resilience, resistance, and Ingenuity. As the indigenous tribes of the delta learned to live with water and the constant environmental challenges that comes with the resource rich land of Louisiana, we challenge designers to think the same.
The Water Collaborative works to ensure all communities can live and thrive with water. To live and thrive means using water as a tools for resilience, economic development, and community healing. We work to achieve this advocating for natural infrastructure, urban greenspaces that serve dual purposes, and push water related agencies to lead with justice, equity, and liberation in mind.
What makes us Unique?
What makes Water Flows Forward unique and more impactful than other design competitions is that applicants must design a solution to a real-world challenge that is currently impacting residents of the Gulf South.
We seek to educate, so each design competition is accompanied with educational tools intended to help participants better understand the root causes of the problems and the community their design is intended to serve; eventually leading to a better product. Lastly, the winning design will be made, installed in the community it’s intended to serve, and eventually sold to communities in benefit of The Water Collaborative and the winning designer.