A Carnival float for a water-scarce island

An oversized tap stands on a carnival float in Lesvos. No water comes out of it. Beneath it, a person kneels and waits.

The image is simple, but powerful. It was created by young people who had experienced water shortages the previous summer, and it became one of the most direct examples of environmental communication produced through the BLUEFRONT project.

It was also part of a Blue School.

Ten workshops, two local realities

Between January and June 2026, LATRA implemented the Greek Blue School across two different settings in Lesvos: the rural community of Polichnitos and the coastal city of Mytilene.

Together, these two places helped participants explore different sides of the island’s water reality: seasonal scarcity, tourism pressure, local infrastructure, coastal pollution, and everyday water use.

The workshop cycle began with an introduction to BLUEFRONT, group-building activities, and discussions about local water challenges. In one of the first sessions, participants were invited to reflect on the previous summer’s water shortages. Their memories and experiences shaped the direction of the work that followed.

Advocacy through art and humour

Early in the process, the group decided that they wanted to speak to their community through a familiar and public local tradition: carnival.

This was not an abstract communication exercise. Some participants were already connected to the local carnival organising team, which meant the Blue School entered an existing community space rather than creating an entirely separate event.

Across a series of working meetings, the young people developed two carnival floats. One showed the oversized tap with no water. The second used an Egyptian-inspired theme, with symbolic figures and tap-headed guardians, turning water scarcity into a visual story that was playful, memorable, and critical at the same time.

The floats were presented during the local parade, bringing BLUEFRONT’s water message directly into the public space. People did not have to attend a formal workshop or read a report. They simply saw the message in the middle of a community celebration.

From creative action to field research

The Blue School did not stop at awareness-raising. Participants also carried out structured seasonal observations at Tsamakia Beach in Mytilene, using the BLUEFRONT observation table.

They recorded water temperature, pH, water level, transparency, algae presence, plants, animals, and visible pollution. The basic water conditions appeared mostly within expected ranges for the season. But the observations also revealed what should not have been there: small plastic waste and human litter.

Participants also looked beyond the water itself. They considered what surrounds and affects the beach, including energy infrastructure, nearby facilities, tourism activity, and seasonal human pressure.

This is one of the main lessons of the Blue School methodology: water research is not only about testing water quality. It is also about understanding how people, infrastructure, tourism, industry, and daily habits shape the condition of local water sources.

Listening to the community

In June, the group expanded its research through four themed questionnaires focusing on water quality and pollution, tourism, human activity and environmental pressure, biodiversity, and environmental awareness.

The responses confirmed one of the group’s main concerns: many residents associated the summer period with increased pressure on water quality and identified waste as one of the most visible problems linked to tourism and human activity.

This helped participants connect their own observations with wider community perceptions. Their findings were no longer only personal impressions. They became part of a broader picture of how water scarcity and pollution are experienced locally.

Learning to see different perspectives

Two workshop sessions were especially important for shaping the group’s thinking.

In one session, participants took part in a water-management simulation. They adopted the roles of different stakeholders, including the municipality, citizens, farmers, tourism businesses, and the water-management company. Their task was to negotiate how to allocate a limited water supply.

In another session, participants created short theatre pieces about a village facing summer water shortages. Through performance, they explored conflict between residents, authorities, farmers, tourists, future generations, and even water itself.

These activities helped the group move beyond blame. By stepping into different roles, participants began to understand that water management involves competing needs, unequal responsibilities, and difficult decisions. This made their final proposals more balanced and realistic.

The Lesvos Water Roadmap

At the end of the process, the group created its Water Roadmap by placing problems, observations, solutions, and future ideas onto a large map of Lesvos.

Their priorities included reducing marine and plastic pollution, addressing the environmental pressure of summer tourism, conserving water during periods of scarcity, and strengthening environmental education.

Their proposed actions ranged from beach clean-ups and sustainable tourism practices to fixing leaks, reducing household water waste, and encouraging shorter showers. In this way, the roadmap connected municipal responsibility with everyday action.

The group also identified the stakeholders who need to be involved: local authorities, the water company, energy providers, tourism businesses, schools, NGOs, residents, and young people themselves. This was one of the most important outcomes. The participants did not see themselves only as learners or observers. They positioned themselves as agents of awareness and change.

What the float showed

The carnival float made the issue visible before the roadmap was even finished.

An oversized tap. No water. Someone waiting underneath.

It was simple enough for everyone to understand, but strong enough to open a conversation about scarcity, responsibility, and the future of water on the island.

Four young representatives from the Greek Blue School will bring their work to the Transnational Blue Residency in Finland, where they will share the Lesvos Water Roadmap alongside roadmaps from the other BLUEFRONT partner countries.

But in many ways, the message had already reached the community months earlier – not through a lecture, but through creativity, humour, and a public image that was impossible to ignore.