River Rally 2026

Join Zachary Damato, co-founder of Urban Rivers, for an engaging workshop, ‘Activating Our Urban Waterways (Wild Mile Case Study)’, which will focus on how Urban Rivers took a stretch of the Chicago River and transformed it into the largest floating public park in the country. For any individual from a local NGO to a water enthusiast to a city planner will benefit from this workshop. The rivers are for a variety of animals and stakeholders, and it takes a coalition to activate your urban waterway thoughtfully.

This session offers an introduction to the intersecting worlds of grassroots fundraising, giving circles, and trust-based philanthropy — exploring what becomes possible when grantmaking and community investments are guided by the people closest to the work. Participants will get an inside look at River Network's Flow Fund Circle, a model that puts decision-making power directly into the hands of network members. You will also hear firsthand from community leaders about the impactful work they are leading on the ground, made possible in part through Flow Fund support. Whether you're new to these concepts or looking to deepen your understanding, this session will inspire fresh thinking about how financial resources flow — and who gets to decide.

The entire water sector has been buzzing with the explosive growth of data centers and what it means for water supply, quality, long-term planning, and its impacts on our communities and ecosystems. In this panel, get a lay of the land from a range of speakers who are researching data center impacts, partnering with big tech to improve water management challenges, and tackling local and state processes to ensure communities are at the table when data center proposals crop up in their backyards.

Have you ever been told that community engagement is outside your scope? In this interactive session, city and community representatives from Austin, Texas will share their experience creating and sustaining Rain to River, an equity and community-centered planning process. This session explores the very real benefits of effective engagement and will tackle questions like: “How can we design our engagement efforts to bring value to participants and avoid contributing to ‘engagement fatigue’-- especially among historically marginalized groups?” and “What does meaningful retention and engagement look and feel like across multi-year municipal planning processes?” Participants will leave with actionable insights into this strengths-based approach to holistic community planning.

Join this session to learn the tools in the Clean Water Act you can use to protect your communities and local waters. You'll learn from real-world case studies where advocates are using the Clean Water Act to connect and mobilize to protect their waters, and you’ll get hands-on practice that will help equip you to use these tools in your communities.

If you have a laptop, bring it with you - it will come in handy for the activities in this session.

With extreme weather on the rise, developing a shared vision for our river corridors is more critical than ever. This session highlights the importance of uniting diverse interests to create an integrated approach to floodplain management. Panelists will showcase real-world examples of integrated floodplain management and share tools for assessing hazards and identifying multi-benefit opportunities. This session is designed for River Rally participants who are helping communities build integrated approaches or coordinating across sectors to implement holistic nature-based solutions.

Anyone can be a great spokesperson for your organization with the right training and practice. This workshop will lead participants through a formal media training before working as pairs to practice speaking to a reporter. We will conclude with a discussion of how participants can recreate the training for their team.

In the past year, unprecedented shifts in funding have rocked the environmental sector causing layoffs, early retirements, and more professionals deciding or being forced to make career pivots. The job application process has in turn become extremely competitive and challenging to navigate. Reflecting on their recent experiences making career transitions, past River Network Emerging Leaders will share how they applied their skills to new sectors of environmental work and found meaning in the process. This session will provide ample opportunities for small and large group discussions related to the job search process, supporting mental health and wellbeing during challenging times, and lessons learned from periods of transition.