River Don Project

This week I was lucky enough to be at a presentation given by the River Don Project (www.the riverdon.org.uk). It changed the way I look at my environment and also the benefits that can come from the work of Open Gates Outdoors. 

The presentation was given by Alban Krashi and Jonny Douglas of Opus Independents (www.weareopus.org.uk) an organisation that promotes system change in order to help tackle the most fundamental challenges facing the human race. It does this by encouraging us to view the world we live in and the systems that affect it from a completely different perspective.. 

The ultimate aim of the River Don Project is to achieve separate legal status for the River Don so its rights are protected in law. This may sound far fetched but it has been achieved in many parts of the world including Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, India, New Zealand and even the United States.

The most exciting part of the project for me was the creation of a web portal on which anyone can log an interaction they have had with the River Don whether it be walking, bird watching, paddling, fishing or kayaking. The post can be a description a feeling or a photograph.

It gets even more fascinating as this portal will be used by the project to do two things. First it will create a map of the healthy parts of the Don and those areas that are in need of improvement, as if the River is itself asking for support. Second Artificial Intelligence will be used to gather the information on the portal to give the River a voice so it can speak up for itself. I have always been told AI has positive applications and it seems to me that this is certainly one. 

In terms of the impact on Open Gates Outdoors this is an eye opener. I have always been convinced that Open Gates has significant benefits for the wellbeing of the people it works with whether it be employees of corporate partners, beneficiaries of third sector partners, or individual partners. However I had not thought about the benefits the activities of Open Gates Outdoors can bring to the environment itself. 

By encouraging clients led by Open Gates Outdoors in the River Don catchment, whether it be Parkwood Springs, Wincobank Hill, or any of the tributaries of the Don, to reflect on their activities and engage with the project portal, Open Gates Outdoors is contributing to the voice of the Don and enhancing its ability to speak up for itself. This in turn will allow it to exercise its rights which will improve its health and that of our environment. 

Opus would urge us to engage with this type of alternative thinking in order to tackle the major challenges we face. In fact they would no doubt say this is imperative if we are to effectively tackle global warming. Experience tells us that the existing neo liberal paradigm is at best reckless towards our environment and at worse bent on its destruction. 

I would urge all to open their minds to the alternative paradigm of the River Don Project for all our sakes. 

George Yates

18 July 2024