“I saw when all the relationships in and along the river were healthy and in balance, the emergent property is drinkability for everyone, health for everyone, and beauty for us to admire and be immersed in.” –Li An Phoa

We welcome Li An Phoa for a powerful conversation on following the call of water as a teacher and centering water for the health of our communities and world. Phoa, the author of Drinkable Rivers: How the River Became My Teacher, shares a poignant story of the first time she drank from the wild and healthy Rupert River in the Canadian subarctic. This “sip” was a catalyst for transforming her life. She realized through her relationship with this river, which later became polluted, that drinkable rivers are an indicator of a healthy society, benefiting human and more-than-human communities.

Li An shares her work with the organization Drinkable Rivers in service of river health, organizing river walks around the world and mobilizing people to act for the healing and well-being of watersheds.

About Li An Phoa

Li An Phoa works towards a world with drinkable rivers and founded the charity Drinkable Rivers to raise awareness and to weave this with mobilising people for action. She organises river walks, citizen science and action communities, like Mayors for Drinkable Rivers. Li An walked over 18,500km for drinkable rivers and a documentary film has been made of her 1.000-kilometre walk along the Meuse River. The book Drinkable Rivers: How the River Became My Teacher was published in English in September 2023. Most recently, Li An completed the Thames walk, a 4-week journey from the source in the Cotswolds to the mouth in the North Sea and the walk along the Berkel, a Rhine/IJssel tributary. www.drinkablerivers.org

Hosted by: Kate Bunney

Produced & Edited by: Anne Carol Mitchell

Intro music by: Mamuse 'River Run Free' - featuring Walter Strauss