How to make sense of our rivers: using assemblage to understand angling

Our freshwater habitats are under threat and governance of these systems is rapidly evolving. It is thus important to examine how we make sense of our rivers and how this understanding can underpin catchment management. Assemblage is one approach that can be used to understand our freshwater environments. In this article we reflect on an interdisciplinary project on angling to evaluate whether using assemblage may help us comprehend our rivers in new ways. We work through themes of: different perspectives of river processes, what constitutes evidence used in decision making, how the nexus between wildlife and the physical environment plays out, and the importance of rivers to our well‐being. We demonstrate how assemblage can facilitate a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of relational processes and how these evolve over time. Assemblage can thus be used as a way of exploring rivers to support integrated management within complex systems of governance. This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness Human Water > Water Governance