Contribute to Ripples 2024
Ripples is a youth-led arts zine showcasing visual and written works that celebrate our shared love of and connection to water. We are calling for young artists, writers, and photographers (aged 6-25), who live on the unceded Indigenous lands and waters today known as British Columbia to join us in creating a collection of artistic works that celebrate human connection to water—and the entirety of our watersheds—in a time of environmental degradation and a rapidly changing climate.
Part love letter and part call to action, through Ripples, we endeavour to reflect the beauty and ecological significance of the watersheds that nourish and cradle the places we call home and are the lifeblood of our province and planet. In doing so, we celebrate the inherent interconnectedness of humans and water. We are an inseparable part of our watersheds. This year’s issue of Ripples seeks to celebrate the ways in which we are connected to our watersheds and practice love and care for our watersheds in our day-to-day lives. This love of water is a critical force in inspiring the urgent actions needed to improve watershed health in our province and beyond—especially in an era of rapid climate change and relentless environmental degradation. Urgent actions that will propel us towards peace and justice for all beings.
The organizations behind Ripples 2024 believe that young people—particularly youth artists, photographers, and writers—are creating ripples in the world of water advocacy and governance through education, stewardship, art, and the celebration of Earth's water systems, of which every creature on Earth, including ourselves, is an integral part. We believe that young people have an invaluable role to play in supporting healthy and resilient watersheds, which our shared and deeply entwined futures depend on.
Ripples is published by the University of Victoria Sustainability Project, in partnership with the POLIS Water Sustainability Project and NatureKidsBC.It will be released for World Water Day, which takes place on March 22nd every year.
The organizations behind Ripples 2024 believe that young people—particularly youth artists, photographers, and writers—are creating ripples in the world of water advocacy and governance through education, stewardship, art, and the celebration of Earth's water systems, of which every creature on Earth, including ourselves, is an integral part. We believe that young people have an invaluable role to play in supporting healthy and resilient watersheds, which our shared and deeply entwined futures depend on.
Ripples is published by the University of Victoria Sustainability Project, in partnership with the POLIS Water Sustainability Project and NatureKidsBC.It will be released for World Water Day, which takes place on March 22nd every year.
Submission Guidelines
Are you between the ages of 6 and 25, reside in BC, and are interested in making a submission to Ripples? Check out the submission guidelines below. And if you need inspiration, view take a peek at Ripples 2024, get out in your watershed, or consider the official theme for World Water Day 2024. But remember, it's okay to take inspiration from elsewhere too—as long as your work celebrates human connection to water and our watersheds, we want to see it!
To have your art, writing, or photography featured in Ripples, submit using the button below. You may make as many submissions as you like, but you will have to fill out the form separately each time.
Submission criteria
For Visual and Digital Artists
Please ensure that your piece is done on a sheet of unlined paper, etc. Accepted mediums for submissions include: marker, pencil crayon, watercolour paint, gouache, acrylic paint, collage, or digital art tools. If your art was created digitally, download it as a PNG, JPG, or JPEG to submit it to this form. If your art was created using a physical medium, scan it and upload it to this form as a .PNG. There are a few size formats for art that are acceptable for submissions. Including: 8.5x11 inches (regular paper size) pieces, in either portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) formats, 8.5x5.5 inches (the size of a regular sheet of paper, folded height-wise), or any size with a ratio of 8.5x11 inches in either portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) format, so that it can be scaled properly by the Ripples Editorial team—without compromising your beautiful work! Please do not submit a piece that would require more than 2 pages to be displayed (i.e., 2+ page comic spreads).
For Writers and Poets
Please ensure that your piece is no longer than approximately 300 words long and is submitted to this form as either a PDF, or Word file. Before uploading, check to ensure your piece is free of grammatical and spelling errors.
For Photographers
Please ensure you upload a high-resolution version of your photo to this form as a PNG, JPG, or JPEG to guarantee that your submission will be included in the zine. Low-resolution photos may not be able to be included in the zine.
Submissions are due by February 19th, 2024.
If you are under the age of 18, please ensure that your parent or legal guardian agrees to have your work submitted in Ripples prior to making your submission.
If you have any questions about Ripples or about making a submission, please contact the University of Victoria Sustainability Project Coordinator, Katia Bannister, at [email protected].
To have your art, writing, or photography featured in Ripples, submit using the button below. You may make as many submissions as you like, but you will have to fill out the form separately each time.
Submission criteria
- Please name submission files using the following format named "contributor name_piece name".
- Please submit your headshot (the photo of the contributor) as a PNG, JPG, or JPEG named "contributor first name_last name".
- Please do not include titles or attributions on the piece itself (these will be added by our Editorial team).
- If you are submitting multiple pieces at once, you can share them with us in a Google Drive folder link. If you do so, you will need to ensure that each piece is named in the format listed above and that you make sure to change the settings of your Google Drive folder to be "editable by anyone with the link". Please contact [email protected] to request tech support.
For Visual and Digital Artists
Please ensure that your piece is done on a sheet of unlined paper, etc. Accepted mediums for submissions include: marker, pencil crayon, watercolour paint, gouache, acrylic paint, collage, or digital art tools. If your art was created digitally, download it as a PNG, JPG, or JPEG to submit it to this form. If your art was created using a physical medium, scan it and upload it to this form as a .PNG. There are a few size formats for art that are acceptable for submissions. Including: 8.5x11 inches (regular paper size) pieces, in either portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) formats, 8.5x5.5 inches (the size of a regular sheet of paper, folded height-wise), or any size with a ratio of 8.5x11 inches in either portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) format, so that it can be scaled properly by the Ripples Editorial team—without compromising your beautiful work! Please do not submit a piece that would require more than 2 pages to be displayed (i.e., 2+ page comic spreads).
For Writers and Poets
Please ensure that your piece is no longer than approximately 300 words long and is submitted to this form as either a PDF, or Word file. Before uploading, check to ensure your piece is free of grammatical and spelling errors.
For Photographers
Please ensure you upload a high-resolution version of your photo to this form as a PNG, JPG, or JPEG to guarantee that your submission will be included in the zine. Low-resolution photos may not be able to be included in the zine.
Submissions are due by February 19th, 2024.
If you are under the age of 18, please ensure that your parent or legal guardian agrees to have your work submitted in Ripples prior to making your submission.
If you have any questions about Ripples or about making a submission, please contact the University of Victoria Sustainability Project Coordinator, Katia Bannister, at [email protected].
About Ripples
Ripples is a digital art zine featuring youth artwork, photography, poetry, and prose celebrating World Water Day. Ripples 2023 is being produced by the University of Victoria Sustainability Project (UVSP), with support from the POLIS Water Sustainability Project, and NatureKidsBC.
Past editions of Ripples have been published with support from the Canadian Freshwater Alliance, Year of the Salish Sea (YOSS), and Cowichan Valley Earth Guardians Crew. The first edition of Ripples was created for World Water Day 2021, and Ripples has now become an annual publication.
World Water Day happens on March 22nd every year. It was started by the United Nations in 1993 to celebrate water and raise awareness of global water issues. This year, the theme of World Water Day is "Leveraging Water for Peace".
We believe young people, particularly youth artists, photographers, and writers, are creating ripples in the world of water through artistic celebration, stewardship, governance, and the celebration of Earth's water systems, which we as humans, as well as every other creature on Earth are connected to and a part of.
Past editions of Ripples have been published with support from the Canadian Freshwater Alliance, Year of the Salish Sea (YOSS), and Cowichan Valley Earth Guardians Crew. The first edition of Ripples was created for World Water Day 2021, and Ripples has now become an annual publication.
World Water Day happens on March 22nd every year. It was started by the United Nations in 1993 to celebrate water and raise awareness of global water issues. This year, the theme of World Water Day is "Leveraging Water for Peace".
We believe young people, particularly youth artists, photographers, and writers, are creating ripples in the world of water through artistic celebration, stewardship, governance, and the celebration of Earth's water systems, which we as humans, as well as every other creature on Earth are connected to and a part of.