Following hot on the heels of the RGS-IBG Annual Conference, focus group activities, and the bonus of the ‘Watershed’ event (see previous posts for Parts 1, 2 and 3), the next phase of the Joy Welch project (“Giving Voices to Rivers: Promoting Creative Engagements Through Art-Science Collaborations”) involved an open public event at Aberystwyth University. The event was timed to coincide with World Rivers Day (WRD) 2023, which is held annually on the 4th Sunday of every September (so this year 24th September). The inaugural WRD was held in 2005 to coincide with the United Nations launch of the Water for Life Decade, and has since grown to involve activities in more than 100 countries worldwide (see https://worldriversday.com). WRD “highlights the many values of our rivers, strives to increase public awareness, and encourages the improved stewardship of all rivers around the world.”
To our knowledge, our event was the first WRD event to held at Aberystwyth University. Organised around the theme of “What do rivers mean to you?”, various interactive displays and exhibits on C floor of the university’s Llandinam Building were intended to provide a stimulus for reflection and discussion, and to enable people to engage creatively with river topics, whether that be river hydrology, geomorphology, ecology, or wider cultural aspects.
Between 40 and 50 people attended the afternoon event, with really good engagement from all present. A selection of photos from the event is below (click to enlarge images in a separate window).
The More Than Minutes team produced another excellent poster summarising people’s varied responses to the day’s theme (click to enlarge image in a separate window).
Along with the focus group discussions, the WRD event provided plenty of ideas for the final stages of the Joy Welch project, which will revolve around using the arts to promote creative engagements with ‘real world’ rivers in the local context. How can we engage creatively with the Afon Rheidol, with its mix of semi-natural and mine waste and dam-impacted reaches, or the smaller, less impacted rivers flowing through areas of woodland in and around Aberystwyth? Can we raise awareness of the ‘hidden hydrological histories’ of Aberystwyth? Can these engagements help improve physical and mental wellbeing and help build a stronger sense of community?
stephentooth 