The opening of the World Championship in Cooperation was held at Strömparterren, Wednesday the 31st of May.  
20 years ago youths from Sweden and other countries met at Stockholm Concert Hall to talk about what they think is crucial for the future. The children all agreed that the most important thing of all is water. Without water there is no life on earth. Thus a simple ceremony was born, Our Uniting Water Ceremony where children bring water from an area they are safe guarding. The children will in a ceremony one by one pour the water they have brought in a bowl of ice. One scoop of the united water will be handed over to a leader who daily makes decisions about children’s future. In the finishing song “Let us join! You can count on us!” children and youths show that they want to be a part of and shape future decisions.Our Uniting Water Ceremony will inaugurate the first World Championships in Cooperation at Norrström in the center of Stockholm. Leaders of the political parties in Stockholm will receive a bowl of the children’s united future and will give their common Promise to the Future. Then a very special thing happens! The Weave of Life will slowly rise from the water, a symbolic act to show that stories of cooperation and care have been lifted out of oblivion. Tales have been weaved together, sown, mended, stitched and knitted for centuries. The Weave of Life has been created on an island outside of Lofoten by women from different countries and it unites symbols of life from all over the world.The youth’s Uniting Water and the Life Weave are an inspiration for both children and adults who take part in the World Championships in Cooperation.
At the inauguration of the Worldcic there will also be fantasies, jokers, an unusual opera diva, strings, dancing and choirs where everyone joins together.

  Without water - no life on earth

Background

The first ceremony was held in Stockholm 1990 and has since been used at openings of major conferences, seminaries and meetings throughout the world. Children from all over the world have united water from their home countries in a beautiful crystal bowl.

Contributions from adults: The Secretary General Mr. Kofi A. Annan contributed water to the Our Uniting Water Ceremony in Stockholm 1998.

Mr. Kofi A.Annan was the first adult to contribute with water to the ceremony.

The only other contribution from adults has been from astronauts and cosmonauts who brought water from space.

Children's Declaration