Our Blog

Emma Sandham Emma Sandham

The Future of Farming

The Future of Farming panel at The UK River Summit in May was a lively and thought-provoking session addressing the intersection of agriculture, environmental sustainability, and food production.

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Emma Sandham Emma Sandham

The Freshwater Emergency - From Scarcity to Abundance

This panel, moderated by James Wallace of River Action UK, convened to address an increasingly pressing issue: the UK’s freshwater emergency. With growing concerns over water scarcity, pollution, and the degradation of ecosystems like chalk streams, the session brought together experts to examine both the roots of the crisis and potential solutions.

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Iona Mackay Iona Mackay

Chalkstream Poet Laureate Winners Announced

The Chalk Stream Poet Laureates initiative has been created by Juliet Nolan, with Robert Macfarlane, Linda Newbery and Mark Wormald as co-judges. It invites everyone to champion chalk streams with poetry, and took to The UK River Summit this year (2024) to begin ripples of creativity. Find out who this year’s competition winners are…

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Iona Mackay Iona Mackay

The UK and European Funding Landscape: It’s Time for Change

According to PitchBook, in 2023, all-women teams secured only 1.8% of the total venture capital pool. These numbers aren’t just disappointing—they’re regressive. The barriers that women face in securing funding are complex and multi-faceted but we see this as a challenge for The UK River Summit and invite anyone interested to support this venture…

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Iona Mackay Iona Mackay

The River Festival 2024: Creativity and Community 

This year’s River Festival in France proved itself to be a magical blend of nature, artistry, and community spirit. It was a real celebration, bringing together a tapestry of river enthusiasts, local residents, artists, musicians, and creatives. Here, we share a little about it...

 

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Iona Mackay Iona Mackay

Big River Watch: 6th - 12th September 2024

Between the 6th and 12th of September, we’re coming together for rivers to take part in the next Big River Watch citizen science event, led by The Rivers Trust, and we want you to join us.

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Emma Sandham Emma Sandham

Bobby Dean: Keeping the Policy Window Open

Bobby Dean, was the Liberal Democrat councilor for the local area, Carlshalton and Wallington, and a lover of the River Wandle. The General Election was announced the day after the UK River Summit and Bobby is now the MP, having won the seat.

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Emma Sandham Emma Sandham

The Third Dimension

Shaun Leonard was our opening speaker at the UK River Summit, May 21st, at Morden Hall. Introduced by media personality and the ‘It’s not all about sewage’ panel moderator, Matthew Wright.

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Claire Zambuni Claire Zambuni

Moving away from outrage

Moving beyond outrage to foster curiosity and open conversations is essential for tackling the challenges our rivers face. This approach was exemplified at the recent UK River Summit which emphasized collaboration, conversation, and creative expression…

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Iona Mackay Iona Mackay

Rebuilding Trust: At What Cost?

As the General Election draws ever closer, we continue with discussions on our cross-party panel at the UK River Summit, including around where the money is going to come from and how trust will be rebuilt…

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Iona Mackay Iona Mackay

A Cross-party Commitment

With just a few days to go until the General election, we look back at the Cross Party Panel at the UK River Summit last month and what was discussed, including what has gone wrong, what needs to be changed, and manifesto commitments…

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Claire Zambuni Claire Zambuni

The Personal Touch

As we look to the future and building the River Summit and Festival concept, we can’t help reflecting what has brought us to where we are now and the like-minded community that is growing. There have been many magical steps that led to the UK River Summit at Morden Hall on May 21st 2024….

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Iona Mackay Iona Mackay

New Sewage Safety Advice for Anglers

With pollution in our rivers continuing to cause concern, the Angling Trust has issued new advice for freshwater anglers to help ensure safe fishing…

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Iona Mackay Iona Mackay

Glimpses of the Wandle: Online Event

Following on from the UK River Summit, come and join us on Tuesday 2nd of July for an evening talk and Q&A with Dr. Jack Hogan of the South East Rivers Trust…

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Iona Mackay Iona Mackay

Hinkley Point C 

In attendance at The UK River Summit 2024, the Hinkley Point C Action group and other interested parties came to discuss a route forward in demanding greater fish protection measures and effective mitigation of major fish kills set to take place at EDF Energy Hinkley Point C.

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