The 2019 ‘River Angel’ youth water protection program, jointly organised by RCE Hangzhou and the Alibaba Foundation, formally kicked off at Hangzhou Xuejun Elementary School on 5 September, 2019.

Nearly 200 ‘River Angels’ from primary and secondary schools around Hangzhou participated in the program, which combines the power of international organisations, government departments, social and charity organisations, primary and secondary schools, and others, and assigns youth ‘River Angels’ to be responsible for certain sections of their local river. Students participating in this innovative sustainability education program take action to protect water resources, spread and share information about the importance of caring for local rivers, and conduct related research, through which they obtain the skills needed to become river watchers in their hometown as well as environmental interpreters and innovators of water environment improvement solutions.

Since the launch of the program in September 2018, close to 14,000 students from 38 schools around Hangzhou have taken part in more than 10 different STEAM events such as the River Angels SDG Soccer Match, Choral Show, Qiantang Seawall Mural, Discussion with H20 City Mayors, and more, indirectly influencing over 600,000 people. Additionally, Hangzhou Xuejun Elementary School’s ‘River Angels’ program was the recipient of the 2019 China Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition Experiential Learning Award.

On the first day of the programme, Yongming Duan, Zhejiang Satellite TV host Tao Shen, and deputy editor-in-chief of City Express, Xianzheng Jiang were introduced as River Angel Mentors, whilst Hangzhou Xuejun Elementary School and Wanshizhen Zhongxin Elementary School formally became River Angels co-founder schools. At the event, a computer program was introduced for River Angels to help them learn about rivers and discover, record, and solve water environment issues while conducting scientific environmental experimental learning.

(Photo credits: RCE Hangzhou)