What is this?



• Seeing Rivers Together is a simple photovoice activity connected to the Rivers are Connectors of Land, Water & People session at the 2026 IAGLR-SCAS conference in Winnipeg.
• During the session and river walk, participants are invited to take photos that help them notice, reflect on, and share their relationships with rivers. The activity is designed to sit alongside MacroBlitzing and Water Rangers water quality monitoring. Together, these activities invite us to notice river life, river conditions, and river relationships.

Why photovoice?

• Rivers are often understood through scientific indicators, such as water quality, species presence, habitat conditions, and ecological change. These indicators matter. At the same time, rivers are also known through memory, responsibility, care, grief, story, place, and everyday relationships.
• Photovoice offers a way to bring these forms of noticing into conversation. It invites participants to use images and short reflections to ask what river care, river health, recovery, and responsibility look like from different standpoints.

How to participate

During the river walk or elsewhere during the conference:

1. Take one photo connected to rivers, water, care, connection, stress, recovery, or responsibility.
2. Write a short caption or reflection.
3. Keep it for yourself, share it with others in conversation, or post it publicly using the optional hashtag.

Optional public sharing hashtag (Instagram)

#RiversAreConnectors

Only post images you are comfortable making public.

Prompts

You can respond to one of these prompts, or create your own:

• What does river care look like here?
• What is the river asking us to notice?
• What signs of connection, stress, recovery, or responsibility do you see?
• What might standard monitoring tools miss?
• What river do you carry with you into this place?
• What did you notice differently by spending time near the water?

Caption guide

Your caption can be short. You might include:

• Where was this taken?
• What drew your attention?
• What does this image say about river care, river health, or responsibility?
• What question does this image raise?

Example caption structure:

• I noticed ________.  This made me think about ________.
• This image says something about river care because ________.

Ethics and care

• Please be thoughtful about what you photograph and share.
• Avoid posting identifiable photos of people without their permission.
• Avoid sharing images of sacred, sensitive, private, or vulnerable places unless permission is clear.
• Share only what you are comfortable making public.
• You do not need to post anything to participate. Taking a photo and reflecting on it privately is also part of the activity.

Connection to the river walk

• The Assiniboine River Walk brings together several ways of noticing and learning with rivers.
• MacroBlitzing helps us notice aquatic insects and river biodiversity.
• Water Rangers kits help us notice water quality.
• Photovoice helps us notice relationships, meanings, responsibilities, memories, and forms of care.
• Together, these practices support the broader goal of building a riverkeeper community of practice across science, stewardship, storytelling, Indigenous knowledges, education, and public engagement.

After the conference, the organizing team may also invite participants to share one image and caption for a small curated reflection from the session and river walk. Images will not be used in public-facing materials without permission from the contributor.

Contact

For questions about this activity, contact:

riversareconnectors@groups.uwo.ca

This activity is part of the Rivers are Connectors of Land, Water & People session at the 2026 IAGLR-SCAS conference in Winnipeg. It is supported by the session organizing team: Catherine Febria, Dalal Hanna, Evan Bowness, Lauren Lawson, Abraham Francis, and Kahsennaró:roks Deom..