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Climate Action

FRI-B02: Healing the Water: Practices of Nurturing and Honoring Rivers as Radical Regeneration

Friday, September 18, 2026
10:45 AM - 12:00 PM PT
1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW

Infrastructure and economic prosperity are misleadingly opposed to community values and ecological health. To solve water crises of drought, flood, erosion, and pollution, we need a new relationship to water. Discover traditional and innovative nature-based practices that weave both together, from around the world to the Midwest.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Apply Indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge systems that offer proven, resilient practices for water stewardship that challenge conventional infrastructure approaches.
  • Apply practical strategies for community-led river restoration, including coalition-building, historical narrative discovery, and volunteer engagement to rebuild relationships between people and waterways.
  • Recognize how rivers function as living infrastructure that shapes settlement patterns, cultural identity, and ecological health, moving beyond a mechanistic mentality.
  • Develop actionable strategies for practitioners working in neglected or degraded watersheds, including advocacy, restoration practices, and establishing community-forward goals.