Enlightened Reciprocity: Water of Leith Clean-up

The Edinburgh Architectural Association’s mission is to create an approachable nucleus of architects and student architects to meet and hold events to stimulate thought and discussion and to share common aspirations. We aim to form links with other construction and arts-related bodies and to promote our skills and expertise to the public.The EAA is a Chapter of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) and has over 1300 active members located from the Scottish Borders, through the Lothians to Fife, with an incredibly talented and diverse membership.Registered Charity SCO50008.

Edinburgh Architectural Association

Resetting our relationship with the natural world with a Saturday river clean-up on the Water of Leith, guided by an ecologist.

St Marks Park

The Enlightenment, which gave Edinburgh some of its greatest thinkers, established an attitude to the natural world as property that could be exploited for human gain. The subsequent industrial revolution set humans on a path of unsustainable consumption.The Water of Leith has supported life through Edinburgh for centuries, but we have neglected it, taken it for granted. This event is a guided clean-up of a short section of the Water of Leith. In getting hands on with the off-casts of human activity we can better appreciate the need for change. With input from an ecologist we can gain understanding of the health of the river and how adjustments to our behaviour could enhance outcomes for the river, and the flora and fauna that inhabit it.The event will conclude with refreshments and reflections on the cleanup.Can we be truly Enlightened and find Reciprocal ways of working with the natural world?