Fifteen young people from the Salween river basin in Myanmar completed the Salween Youth Engagement Programme in March 2026, concluding six months of training and research that explored the ecological, cultural, and governance dimensions of the Salween. The activities prepared the youth to become informed and locally rooted leaders who help their communities protect the Salween River, one of the last largely free-flowing rivers in Southeast Asia.
The Salween Youth Engagement Programme is part of IUCN’s pioneering Building River Dialogue and Governance (BRIDGE) programme, which aims to build water governance capacities through learning, demonstration, leadership, and consensus-building in transboundary river basins. The programme consisted of intensive in-person education and coaching sessions, followed by four research projects that were supported with micro-grants. The programme featured a ‘heart’ component to strengthen the participants’ conservation motivation, and a ‘head’ component to increase their understanding of the ecology in the Salween basin and equip them with the skills needed to conduct their field research.
The Heart Connection
Through guided meditations, journalling, and reflections, participants explored their personal relationship with the Salween. Drawing on the rich cultural and faith-based traditions of their communities and their own life experiences, they deepened their relationship with the Salween River and their commitment to conserving the Salween for future generations.
During this part of the programme, the youth noted the healing potential of nature in their turbulent lives, which one young participant described as having been in ‘chaos’ since the 2021 coup d’état and the surge in armed violence that followed. A young participant contemplated that ‘nature means the freedom from being stressful’, which one of her course mates echoed by stating that ‘nature is my motivator and destresses me’. Another participant noted that ‘nature is peace of mind and so destroying nature is destroying our own peace of mind’.
A shared love for the Salween also informed the bond between the youths, who hailed from different ethnic, religious and social backgrounds, as they undertook their research projects together.
