Bringing river health into being with citizen science: River commons co-learning and practice

Abstract

Human health and well-being are directly and indirectly dependent on the life of river systems. Life in river systems is increasingly dependent on human actions that bring river health into being. Rather than describing river health as thing, problem or management challenge, this paper explores how river health is brought into being, through the citizen science practices of the Amanzi Ethu Nobuntu project in the upper uMngeni catchment in South Africa. The study draws on focal data produced by citizen science practitioners, as interpreted by them in collaboration with partners in the catchment, and their reflections on the meaning(s) of river health and how it came into being. Drawing on the concepts of citizen science as a co-learning process, integrative views of One Health, and commoning as activity, the study offers a rich interpretation on how river health comes into being. The study shows the complex interrelated practices involved, including practices of resolving leaks and pollution challenges, social and community engagement, and the co-learning involved in citizen science practices itself. It offers insight into the social-ecological and ethical-political ontological dynamics of river health commoning activity, thus offering alternatives to reductionist approaches to bringing river health into being, potentially also enriching tools for river health reporting.
Significance:
The significance of the main findings of Sustainability Science Engagement and Engaged Sustainability Sciences includes how citizen science can be key for engaging local communities in sustainability research around sustainability challenges, such as river health, by linking to the health of the people and their everyday engagements with the river. Further contributions include conceptualising sustainability science engagement co-learning processes of being in common around a shared matter of concern, such as bringing river health into being beyond technical specifications. Contributions are also made by highlighting how sustainability science engagement can result in richness in terms of knowing sustainability challenges.