Guardians of the River: An Online Course

The course is taught by river guardians from many nations around the world: Rajendra Singh (India); Michal Kravcik (Slovakia); Maida Bilal (Albania); Edgar Kanayko (Xakriaba nation, Brazil); Tawana Cruz (Fulkaxo, Brazil); Jennifer Avila (Honduras); Richard Moreno (Colombia); Adib Dada (Lebanon); and Kamilu Hassan Hamza (Nigeria).

Course structure#

This 12-week course is structured into 3 interactive river biographies and a series of regional projects.

In each weekly session, participants take part in 2 workshops during which we will follow an iconic river from source to sea, following stories of environmental, social and political struggle to protect and restore river systems. These sessions will be followed by a group reflection and debate.

In weeks 2 and 3, there will be practical workshops with Eline Kieft and Nicolas Salazar Sutil to help better understand the somatic, physical and personal sources of human-water connection.

This taught course will be held online via Zoom within the Guardians of the River Mighty Networks platform from February 1 to April 15, 2022.

Each session will be recorded and you will have access to all of the material, forums, events, discussions and more.

Learning Outcomes#

On completion of this course, participants should be able to:

• Appreciate the rich diversity of living rivers: ground rivers, underground rivers, flying rivers, meanders, deltas, etc.
• Understand rivers as part of living cycles with their own temporalities and flows.
• Appreciate the deep interdependence between human society and freshwater.
• Embody water knowledge through spiritual, somatic and experiential practice.
• Recognise the significance of cultural practices in river stewardship.
• Read the water for an understanding of changing environmental conditions and threats to river biomes.
• Recognise the main threats to river life (agribusiness, hydropower, mining, plastic pollution and sewage).
• Evaluate ideas holistically for effective approaches to river guardianship, and interaction between guardianship approaches and existing models of water management.
• Develop community-building for collective river guardianship action.
• Understand the legal, political and economic aspects of river stewardship.
• Gain awareness of key river guardianship campaigns and advocacy groups currently underway worldwide.

This course is certified by Ubiquity University, and you will receive an optional certificate upon completion.