DESCRIPTION
Based on the “River of Life,” this is a participatory activity that can be used with a group of partners. Together, the group creates a drawing that represents their collaboration as a journey down a river. This process can help professionals reflect on how their goals, relationships, and activities have changed through time and look toward the future. The drawing also provides a tool to document and communicate the partnership history with others.
DESCRIPTION
Based on the “River of Life,” this is a participatory activity that can be used with a group of partners. Together, the group creates a drawing that represents their collaboration as a journey down a river. This process can help professionals reflect on how their goals, relationships, and activities have changed through time and look toward the future. The drawing also provides a tool to document and communicate the partnership history with others.
Credits
Copyright 2026 Arizona State University. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Photos and illustration by Ethan Kruszka.
The River of Life tool has been used in community organizing, education, health, and participatory research. You can find many resources online. This version of the activity was adapted in part from: Carmody, S. (2023). River of life storytelling. In D. Ayton, T. Tsindos, & D. Berkovic (Eds.), Qualitative research: A practical guide for health and social care researchers and practitioners, pp. 166–173, Monash University. https://oercollective.caul.edu.au/qualitative-research/
This material is based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC22M0122. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US).
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