Sensemaking Stewardship






Sensemaking River Rights

Developed in collaboration with Love Our Ouse, a community-led, not-for-profit organisation working to protect and improve the health of the River Ouse and its tributaries in Sussex, Sensemaking River Rights tells the story of the UK’s river crisis and the potential of river rights to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems.

Through an illustrated narrative series, the booklet uses the river’s voice to unpack the often abstract and complex ideas underpinning what river rights are in an accessible way, and what this looks like in practice. It aims to connect the principles of river rights to the everyday relationships, responsibilities and collective actions involved in caring for rivers, while introducing the Charter of Rights for the Sussex Ouse, developed by Love Our Ouse, as a framework for rethinking our relationship with rivers and supporting community-led stewardship.










Loughborough University London

EcoLandS