Keywords
hydrocommoning
collaborative research
curatorial methodologies
care practices
Bogotá River
Abstract
Emergent scholarship offers generative conceptual frameworks for rethinking human-river relations—such as "river commons" and "riverhood" (Boelens et al., 2023), and hydrocommons cultures (Blackmore, 2022a; 2025b). By contrast, a gap remains in the empirical assessment of the changes generated by collaborative actions, methodologies, and impact of "river co-learning arenas" working at the interfaces of water scholarship and commoning initiatives (de Souza et al., 2025a). Addressing this gap requires theoretically-grounded discussion and "ongoing reflexivity" about projects and methodologies (de Souza et al, 2025a). This article advances this agenda through the case study RÍO BOGOTÁ (2023-ongoing), a project for collaboration, co-creation, and co-learning developed by the arts-led platform entre—ríos with river caretakers across Colombia's critically polluted Bogotá River watershed. We present a methodology inspired by the scalar dimensions of levels of change frameworks to assess how two initiatives support river commoning: Piquete del Río Bogotá (2023), a communal culinary gathering of river caretakers around food from the watershed, and Cómo cuidar un río (2023-2024), co-creation of a publication mapping the watershed and its dissemination. Drawing on participant feedback from interviews and focal group discussions across different process stages, we analyze how these initiatives fostered river enlivening and commoning actions around a river declared "dead." We identify scales of commoning from participant consultation and pinpoint how project methodologies support people’s identification as ribereños (river dwellers) through knowledge exchange, collaborative co-creation, facilitating a multi-actor river network for dialogue, commons thinking, and collective action. The article offers insights for researchers and practitioners pursuing similar approaches in degraded rivers across Latin America and beyond, and identifies key challenges in sustaining such work.
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