Guardians of the River: An Online Course

Edgar Kanaykõ belongs to the Xakriabá Indigenous people in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He holds a master’s degree in Anthropology from Federal University of Minas Gerais. He works in the area of ethno-photography: “a means of registering an aspect of culture — the life of a people.”

Tawana is the cultural and spiritual leader of the Kariri-Xoco Fulkaxo, a group of three tribes of the Fulnio trunk based on the banks of the river Opara in Northeastern Brazil.

Josh is an award-wining director and producer. He recently directed ARTIFISHAL a feature documentary for Patagonia. He co-founded the production company Liars & Thieves! with editor Collin Kriner.

Ikal Angelei is a Kenyan politician and environmentalist. She was born in Kitale. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2012, in particular for her voicing of environmental implications of the Gilgel Gibe III Dam, speaking on behalf of Kenyan indigenous communities.

Jennifer Avila Reyes is a honduran journalist. She is the co-founder and editor in chief of Contracorriente, a news media outlet in Honduras, since 2017. She has previously been a documentary filmmaker and radio broadcaster in Honduras, as well as a fixer and freelance for digital media outlets in Latinamerica and Europe.

Rajendra Singh is an Indian water conservationist and environmentalist from Alwar district, Rajasthan in India. Also known as “waterman of India”, he runs an NGO called ‘Tarun Bharat Sangh’ (TBS), which was founded in 1975.

Adib Dada is the founder of theOtherDada. His work promotes a symbiotic relationship between nature and the built environment by exploring new ways of creating generous and regenerative buildings; in essence working with nature to develop resilient and generous cities.

Aboriginal Childrens Advocate (ACA) Bruce Shillingsworth Jnr, a Muruwarri/Budjiti descendant who has a track record of getting his hands dirty also not afraid to stand for truth, honesty and what is right.

Michal Kravčík is a water management engineer. He graduated from the Civil Engineering Faculty of Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. He has worked for 8 years at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He promotes ecological solutions for integrated river basin management.

Dr Anne Poelina is a Nyikina Warrwa (Indigenous Australian) woman who belongs to the Mardoowarra, the lower Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Poelina is an active Indigenous community leader, human and earth rights advocate, filmmaker and a respected academic researcher

In her work, Eline combines her passion for anthropology, health, spirituality, and her intimate knowledge of the dancer’s body.

Nic is a creative practitioner, researcher and author born in Buenos Aires. He has conducted work on conflict resolution in Central Africa among former combatants, children and women survivors, as well as environmentally displaced peoples, especially in Chad and Nigeria.

Daniel Kobei is the Founder and Executive Director of Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP), a Kenyan-based NGO working to secure human and land rights of the indigenous Ogiek community and other Indigenous Peoples (IPs) across Kenya and Africa.

2021 Goldman Prize Recipient Maida Bilal led a group of women from her village in a 503-day blockade of heavy equipment that resulted in the cancellation of permits for two proposed dams on the Kruščica River in December 2018.

Dr Tracey M Benson is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher. Her work has been extensively presented internationally in media arts festivals and exhibitions. With a passion for understanding different knowledge systems and engaging audiences, she often collaborates with Indigenous communities, historians, technologists and scientists

Clean Ilkley River Campaign Group is made up of a group of residents who were shocked at the way that raw sewage was being discharged into the river frequently, even in the summer months. Some of the members had logged this happening regularly since February 2014 but could find no way of stopping it.

Clean Ilkley River Campaign Group is made up of a group of residents who were shocked at the way that raw sewage was being discharged into the river frequently, even in the summer months. Some of the members had logged this happening regularly since February 2014 but could find no way of stopping it.

Richard is community leader in the district of Tangui, Choco (Colombia). He is an environmental lawyer, who specialises in Rights of Nature, Conflict Resolution and Peace.

Charlie Dannreuther is Lecturer in European Political Economy at the University of Leeds, and a member of SeaSure, a wild swimming organisation based in Brighton advocating for bathing rights and open swimming

Kamilu Hassan Hamza is the Founder of Al Fitra Academy, a primary school in Kano Nigeria. He is an oral historian of the Maguzawa, or Hausa animists of North east Nigeria and a human rights lawyer as well as a nature guardian

Sandy Sur is the director of Leweton Cultural Experience, an organisation devoted to the ancient customs of the Islands of Gaua and Mere Lava. He is a practitioner of Water Music, which is an amazing display of sounds, rhythms and movements demonstrating the living nature of water and life on earth from the people of Vanuatu.

Leah Barclay is an Australian sound artist, designer and researcher who works at the intersection of art, science and technology. Barclay’s research and creative work over the last decade has investigated innovative approaches to recording and disseminating the soundscapes of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to inform conservation, scientific research and public engagement. Her work explores ways we can use creativity, new technologies and emerging science to reconnect communities to the environment and inspire climate action.

Stephen Okpadah is a Nigerian theatre and performance researcher interested in participatory theatre, storytelling and climate justice, with a regional focus on the Niger Delta. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Warwick