Can an activist implement Citizen Science? About activism, media, and mobilising people.

In this episode I speak with Li An Phoa, who started the Drinkable Rivers Foundation. She proposes to use drinkable rivers, as a guiding principle for our societies, as a replacement of economic growth. Drinkable rivers as an ancient and new compass, guided by the following, simple question: “Does this behaviour, this measure, or this innovation contribute to drinkable rivers?” There are several TED talks, a documentary, a film and a book that tell all about this guiding principle, and I definitely recommend you see and read them. The book is in the process of being translated into English.

In the past years Li An and I have been working together to create an ambitious citizen science program that enables people to monitor the health of their rivers. Ultimately, it also helps us to track progress towards their goal: a world with drinkable rivers.

We talk about the citizen science program and the core ideas behind it, but even more, we discuss whether Li An is an activist and if she can combine this with the citizen science activities. We also investigate the media attention Li An has been able to get, and what the core reason for this might be.