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Since 1997, GREEN Belgium has been working to promote sustainable development, water issues, education and public participation. Through educational projects aimed at several target groups, mainly youngsters, GREEN Belgium aims to foster enlightened attitudes and policies towards sustainable water management, which includes, inter alia, the rational use of water; prevention of, and an effective approach to, water pollution; greater public participation and worldwide solidarity in the use of this precious resource.

GREEN Belgium is part of the 'Global Rivers Environmental Education Network', or 'GREEN' for short. This world-wide network unites people and organisations dedicated to the protection of water, the source of all life. There is no possible substitute for water: for drinking, food production and hygiene. Water is a critical factor in the balance of nature. Economic development and agricultural production are inconceivable without water of sufficient quantity and quality. Due to the ever-increasing world population, the amount of water available, per person, is decreasing; if policies concerning the use of water don't change, by 2025 two thirds of humanity will face a severe shortage of water. Rivers which run through different countries, crossing frontiers, pose a serious threat of international conflict. Nor is the quality of water improving: in many places it is so polluted that it is no longer suitable for human use nor for supporting nature. The costs of purification and the production of drinking water are constantly increasing. World-wide, 1,4 billion people currently have no access to drinkable water: if nothing changes, this number can only increase, dramatically.

The time has come to 'turn the tide'. Water pollution and waste has to stop, if future generations are to be able to supply their needs. Solutions to the water crisis are to be found at global and local levels, thus GREEN Belgium is active at both of these levels. Local projects and actions encourage youngsters to make efforts towards promoting sustainable water management. Also, GREEN Belgium is helping to tackle the global water problem by supporting initiatives in developing countries, through world-wide co-operation and by taking part in international water conferences and debates. On 22 March 2001, GREEN Belgium issued an invitation to all young, environmentally-minded, humanitarian and enterprising people, to form a GREEN Club; they can thus help GREEN Belgium to bring pressure to bear on world leaders, demanding commitment to genuine progress towards sustainable water management and global solidarity.

This "think global, act local" approach of GREEN Belgium is symbolised in its logo, which pictures the world held within a drop of water.