A new riverside experience for York took a significant step forward last week, as residents, partners and contributors came together on the River Ouse to help shape the York rivers trail.
The event, held as part of the York Festival of Ideas, invited participants onto the water for a curated journey through the city. From the river itself, attendees experienced stories of nature, heritage and adaptation, alongside time to pause, reflect and share ideas.
Jack Barton, Marketing Manager at City Cruises York, said:
“We’re proud to have supported this event by welcoming participants on board and providing a different perspective on the River Ouse.
"Experiencing the river from the water offers something unique - it allows people to slow down, take in their surroundings and see the city from a new angle. That made it the perfect setting for an event focused on reflection, connection and shared understanding.”
Rather than a traditional talk, the experience was designed to help people see York’s rivers differently: as part of a connected system linking upstream landscapes with the city, and as a central part of how York continues to live with water and respond to a changing climate.
Emphasising the wider importance of the project, Councillor Jenny Kent, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency at City of York Council, said:
“York’s rivers have always shaped our city. The York Rivers trail illuminates this history, and explains how natural flood management such as tree planting, hedge laying and mimicking beaver style dams can help slow the flow here in York.
"The aim is to help connect people with their environment, building awareness of flood resilience, including actions we can all take, and supporting a more climate-ready city for everyone.
It has been a pleasure to hear directly from everyone involved.”
Participants heard short insights from project partners and contributors as the boat travelled along the river, before taking part in a guided reflection and feedback session. Conversations focused on what people notice about the river today, what they would like others to understand, and what would make the future trail meaningful for local communities.
The York rivers trail has been in development since 2025, working with partners, schools and communities across the catchment. Insights gathered through events like this will continue to shape the trail as it evolves before and beyond its summer 2026 launch.
The York rivers trail is being developed as a public experience that brings together art, storytelling and science to explore how rivers shape – and are shaped by – places and communities. It helps people understand how upstream and downstream places are connected, and how taking a whole-catchment approach can support long-term flood resilience for people, places and the environment. Reflecting on how the river system is understood and managed, Mark Henderson, Flood Risk Manager at City of York Council, said:
“York has always lived with water, and managing flood risk is about understanding how the whole river system works - not just what happens within the city itself.
"What events like this do is help people see those connections more clearly, from upstream landscapes right through to York, and how approaches like natural flood management play a role alongside more traditional defences.
"The rivers trail will help bring that to life in a way that is accessible and relevant to people’s everyday experience of the river.”
The Festival of Ideas event is part of a wider programme of engagement activity taking place throughout June, as the trail continues to develop ahead of its summer 2026 launch.