Change Lab is a social action program at the SU, that empowers students to tackle community issues in Sheffield. We have been working with the River Dôn Project for 6 months, and working towards short term targets, to help them achieve their long term goals. 

More specifically, we have been (1) working towards building a catchment map and (2) engaging with stakeholders to learn about their relationships with the river.

1. A layered map that takes into account actors and place, such as; organisations, individuals, historical changes, cultural artefacts, urban environment etc. The purpose of this is to collate detailed information to build our understanding through quantitative data sets.

2. Conversations with the communities around the River Don and researching different actors who engage with the river; referred to as stakeholder engagement. The practice has allowed us to understand people's relationships with the river, their value system and how they interact with their local environment. Stakeholder engagement has allowed us to gauge local interest and challenges.

It’s important to actually listen and learn from people/groups that interact with the river; to understand their existing relationships with it, and what’s important to them.