The SPRINGS project is a multi-disciplinary research initiative that explores how shifting weather patterns, environmental change, and diarrhoeal disease interact in places where water access is changing rapidly. While the project draws on quantitative methods to build models of how the changing environment is affecting the spread of pathogens, SPRINGS also recognises that people’s experiences are key to understanding how these changes are felt and lived on the ground. It is through listening to people's experiences, that we as researchers uncover what the actual issues are for the community.
To bring the voices of young people into the project, SPRINGS held a workshop using an arts-based methodology in the town of Akuse, located along the Volta River in Ghana’s Eastern Region. The aim was to explore how young people understand water, climate change, and health in their everyday worlds— this workshop which was conducted at Akuse Methodist Senior High And Technical School, was facilitated by anthropologist Emily Ragus (University of Amsterdam), with support from anthropologist Ruth Mango (University of Ghana), global health researcher Frederike Kooiman (Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development), and filmmaker Thom de Graaff. The workshop, which was filmed, used an arts based research (ABR) method of story-quilting. This method draws on work across education, disaster studies, and participatory public health, while seeking to unsettle extractive knowledge production, by placing artistic expression at the center of inquiry. ABR allows for complex questions—about water, health, anxiety, and care—to be explored through drawing, colour, metaphor, and storytelling.
During the workshop, each participant was given a 20-by-20-inch piece of primed canvas and asked one guiding question: “What is your water story?” Ragus began the session with a short conversation about climate change, sanitation, and how our daily environments affect our health. The participants were encouraged to reflect on how water plays a role in their lives—whether through access, illness, chores, or seasonal changes. They also discussed common experiences with diarrhoea, often referred to locally as “running stomach,” and how this condition is linked to water use. This session description included the idea of “poo stories,” how each of us have our own relationship to water and sanitation, and how this can be portrayed visually. These canvases provided visual snapshots of individual experiences. The workshop highlighted that each of us has a different relationship to water and that through the use of colour and pattern making, we can create and share stories that others can see, feel, and understand.
Over the course of an hour, the students sketched and painted their stories using oil pastels, acrylic crayons, and pencils. Each child was then invited to present their canvas to the group—explaining their colour choices, the symbols they used, and what their stories revealed about water in their lives. Recurring themes emerged: heat, wind, pollution, and daily routines shaped by the river—fishing, washing, collecting water. Some painted joy: rainfall, swimming, play. Others painted fear: water scarcity, pollution, and sickness. One boy’s painting left a lasting impression. He had drawn a woman with tears flowing from her eyes, turning into a river. On one shoulder, the land was green and full of life—trees, flowing water, and people collecting it with ease. On the other shoulder, the land was dry and cracked, with empty buckets and no sign of water. His painting captured the anxiety many young people feel when facing an uncertain climate. It also showed how art can express emotions and ideas that are difficult to put into words.
The final stage of the workshop involved stitching the participants' canvases together to form a narrative quilt on traditional Ghanaian fabric. This collective artwork allowed individual stories to come together into a shared visual statement. Quilting has a long history as a way of telling stories, passing down knowledge, and recording community experiences. In this case, the quilt reflected not only personal views about water, but also larger patterns—worry about drought, fear of illness, and questions about the future. This method helped reduce power imbalances between the researchers and the participant. The process gave each person space to lead the conversation through their artwork, positioning them not as “research subjects” but as storytellers and co-creators of knowledge.
In many parts of Ghana, water-related illness is common, but young people's perspectives are often left out of the conversation. The SPRINGS project shows that including these voices is not just a nice addition—it’s necessary for understanding how people experience and adapt to environmental change. Young people’s stories, particularly when shared visually, provide valuable insight into how communities understand climate risks and health challenges on their own terms.
About the project:
SPRINGS is an EU-funded project focused on addressing the impact of climate change on waterborne diarrheal diseases. Diarrheal diseases are currently the third leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age globally. Compounded by global climate projections indicating increased precipitation, flooding, and drought, there is a looming threat to the progress made in reducing diarrheal disease burden. To inform and prioritise effective political responses, SPRINGS is building 4 case studies in Italy, Ghana, Romania, and Tanzania with contrasting vulnerabilities.