Our Mission: To transform urban waterways into wildlife sanctuaries, and to provide an opportunity for all city residents to reconnect with nature in new and meaningful ways. How We Work: We bring together innovators, ecologists and designers in the urban waterway space from around the world to create truly innovative, wildlife-first destinations. We include local community groups in the design and construction process, so that everyone from students, to local businesses plays an active role in making their surrounding world a better place with their own hands and minds. In addition, we run a layer of programming at these destinations that includes everything from elementary school curriculum, to sponsoring graduate school research projects, to organizing conservation-minded volunteer programs for people of all ages. How We Are Different: Most spaces are created to be “people-first,” but we design wildlife-first solutions and then find sustainable ways for people to access, enjoy and benefit from that space, creating something more special for wildlife and humans alike. With our wildlife-first ethos, we look at problems differently and think of creative ways to improve and increase wildlife habitat. Our Projects: Our core work thus far has been in Chicago, where we are currently building the Wild Mile in partnership with SOM, the City of Chicago and other local partners. When complete, it will be a mile-long floating eco-park on the Chicago River, fit with floating walkways, floating gardens, and even floating forests.
External link for Urban Rivers
1440 N Kingsbury St
Ste 005
Chicago, Illinois North Branch Canal of the Chicago River, US
Scientists and fishermen, kayak guides and engineers! Come build community!
Aquatic professionals - west suburbs edition! I'll be there for the first hour-ish, come say hi and extend the invite to your colleagues! Huge thanks for Peter Nagle, LEED Green Associate for co-organizing.
Our 2024 annual report is live! Check it out! https://lnkd.in/gy24kC4Z
We are SO EXCITED to share Operation Restoration: River - a documentary on our restoration work, created by @gnarlybay in collaboration with our wonderful partners at 11th Hour Racing. You can now watch the full documentary online! https://lnkd.in/g_9AWAdG
What a wonderful way to celebrate winter on the river! Huge thanks to everyone who made it possible!
Thanks to everyone who came out this past Friday morning for Piggies on the River: The Royal Chicago River Pigs-in-a-Blanket Winter Festival! If you missed it, CBS News and Stations has you covered — they were reporting from our spot on the Wild Mile all morning long! You can watch the feed on their YouTube page — shortcut: piggiesfest.com. Big thanks to Chef Javauneeka Jacobs of Frontera Grill and surprise guest Chef Rick Bayless himself! To Gunthorp farms and Francisco’s Produce! To Weber LLC for bringing the heat and BLiS Gourmet for bringing the sweet (that’s gourmet maple syrup)! To Dark Matter Coffee, Sleep Walk Chocolateria, and Greenwood Associates Inc. for the coffee, drinking chocolate, and juice! To CBS News Chicago, Emmy-winning reporter Jackie Kostek, and Tom & Dave for the very kind coverage! And, of course, to my friends at Urban Rivers, for working so hard and so creatively to clean up the Chicago River! If you’ve not yet visited the Wild Mile, a three-year-old project that Urban Rivers developed to restore habitat for native wildlife and improve the river's environmental condition, go visit it this weekend. It provides access to the river for Chicago residents who want to kayak, fish, or connect with nature. It serves as home to all manner of wildlife, including the viral snapping turtle, Chonkosaurus.
Cool new opportunity from our friends at Open Water!
Introducing: The Sea Change Grants🌊 The Sea Change Grants is our open grant program dedicated to supporting grassroots ocean conservation efforts in the U.S. Through the program, we aim to empower organizations that are actively working to protect and preserve our oceans for a post-plastic future. Eligible projects directly contribute to advancing ocean conservation efforts within Open Water’s funding focus areas: •Ocean Habitat Restoration •Plastic Pollution Prevention and Cleanup •Youth Engagement •Advocacy Spread the word. Apply for a Sea Change Grant today! SEACHANGEGRANTS.COM
Urban Rivers reposted this
Friends of the Chicago River is making inquiries into the apparent spill of debris into the North Branch of the Chicago River at the new Bally’s Casino site, which occurred on Saturday. Anyone who sees any kind of pollution should report it to MWRD’s dump line at 1 800 332 DUMP and to Friends at friends@chicagoriver.org. “This kind of irresponsible behavior can’t stand,” said Friends’ executive director, Margaret Frisbie. “We are just grateful that the community acted right away and reported it to Alderman Reilly and others. It is incumbent on any river-edge developer to protect the river from pollution in every way—and our government agencies to swoop in and stop them when they don’t.”
The results of our 2024 Photo Contest are in! Reigning champion Jesse Vega once again takes first place with an incredible heron action shot. You can see the winning photos and all other submissions here: https://lnkd.in/g_PB8ZDE 1. Best Overall: “The Great Blue Heron Encounter”, Jesse Vega, IG: @jessephotos_and_stuff 2: Best in People: “Embraced by Nature”, Grace Pisula, IG: @gpthedp 3. Best in Landscapes: No Title, Thomas Valentino 4. Best in Wildlife: “My Friend Molly Found a Turtle”, Grace Hebert, IG: @gracenooooelle
Urban Rivers reposted this
https://lnkd.in/gwTqkDMk So excited to have my research highlighted in the Chicago Tribune! I can’t wait to learn more about how Urban Rivers floating wetlands are impacting beavers 🦫
It's the most wonderful time of the year... Gravid freshwater mussel season! 🎉 Every winter, we drag our diligent volunteers out to the forest preserves to search for pregnant Giant Floater Mussels. This year we had our most wildly successful season yet - we hit our permitted limit within an hour of starting the search! These mama mussels will be transferred to the DuPage County Forest Preserve's Urban Stream Research Center, where their babies will be raised until they're old enough to be released into our submerged habitats on the Wild Mile next summer. The parents will be gently returned to the river, in the same location from which we retrieved them this morning. If you want to learn more about the mussel-rearing process and our efforts to establish them in urbanized waterways, check out our YouTube channel! https://lnkd.in/gCfydf7X
This Giving Tuesday, consider helping us transform urban waterways into wildlife sanctuaries! We’ve teamed up with Tito’s Handmade Vodka - all donations between now and midnight on December 3rd will be MATCHED up to $2,500! In addition to being matched, recurring donations of any amount will gain you access to our exclusive Wildlife Camera Club newsletter - we’ll send golden content like this directly to your inbox every month! Don’t miss out! https://lnkd.in/gJZhAR3H