The specific context for the WaterLIFE-funded Mile Upstream Project is one mile of the River Dart as it moves through
Totnes, Devon. The project is being conducted in the spirit of Action Inquiry, which is a way of simultaneously conducting action and inquiry in order to increase the effectiveness of a wider set of actions. It began as a way improve my own practice and to develop a methodology that would be useful to the Bioregional Learning Centre. ‘The Mile Upstream’ Initiative dovetails well with the change strategy of the Westcountry Rivers Trust who were looking for ways to authentically introduce the concept of water stewardship, particularly with businesses, where discussion typically hinges on usage and related cost – what’s extracted from a water supply and what’s discharged back into it.
