Catchment Connections
We are engaging diverse communities across the catchment to begin growing a local culture of nature connectedness, belonging and stewardship to the catchment.
About
We are bringing people together to explore the rivers, places and stories that connect us across the catchment. Working with schools, children, ecologists, farmers, elderly and many more, we exploring what it means to be part of a shared catchment and celebrate the many memories, experiences and perspectives that shape it. This is culminating in a one-day event, a Catchment Festival, in October. Read more about it below.
This work is led by creative practitioner Laura Frood in collaboration with the Leven Catchment Collective team.
Catchment Festival: A Day Along the Leven Catchment
The Catchment Festival is a durational event that unfolds across a single day, inviting people to experience the landscape from dawn until dusk. It will be a day of walks, food, art, ecology, stories and conversations celebrating the landscape shaped by water and the people who call it home. Beginning as the landscape wakes in the upper reaches of the catchment, and arriving in the lower parts of the catchment by evening to gather around a shared table, the Catchment Festival invites those who participate to slow down, listen, explore, create, eat and imagine the future of the catchment together.
Whether you want to take part by tuning in to our first happening, the Catchment Radio, come along to a single event, or follow us across multiple events throughout the day, we welcome you however you would like to join. Click on the events below to learn more about them and register your attendance. All events are free.
We are currently finalising the full programme of events for the day, and will update this page as more are confirmed. Below are the events confirmed so far.
6.00am | Catchment Radio: Voices at Dawn
The festival begins with a live radio broadcast as the landscape wakes. Tune in to hear farmers' stories and reflections on early morning routines and the relationship between farming and water. The broadcast will be transmitted live on local radios and shared online through the Sustainable Catchment Podcast (click below or find on Spotify), allowing audiences near and far to begin the day together. We are putting the finishing touches on which radio station will carry the broadcast - watch this space, and we will update you as soon as it is confirmed.
7.00am | Dawn Chorus Walk at Loch Leven
A guided early morning bird walk at Loch Leven Nature Reserve invites participants to explore the sounds of birds as the catchment comes alive. Led by Tom Lane, Countryside Manager and bird specialist, the walk welcomes people of all experience levels and abilities when it comes to birdwatching. It encourages careful listening to birdsong while exploring the ecological importance of Loch Leven and its role within the wider catchment.
1.00pm - 3.00pm | River Roaming Along the Back Burn
Join us for a gentle walk along the Back Burn river at Coul Den. The Back Burn is a tributary to the River Leven, and a known spawning river for native brown trout, as well as home to other species such as otter, heron and dipper. During this walk we will explore the history of the Back Burn, the changes to the river over time, and how a recent restoration project has worked to restore natural processes and support local wildlife to thrive.
6pm - 8.30pm | Catchment Stories, Screening & Supper
Join us to mark the close of the Catchment Festival with an evening of film, art and food celebrating the stories, memories and producers that shape the Leven Catchment- including the first screening of a documentary made on the day, new work from two artists, a photography exhibition by Kinross High School students, and recorded oral histories from residents and farmers across the catchment. The evening closes with a two-course supper made from ingredients sourced exclusively from local farmers and producers.
News & Updates
Opportunity – Two Artist Micro Commissions
Think Like a Catchment Commission fee: £580Presentation: Saturday 17 October 2026 As part of the Forth Rivers Trust Artist in Residency programme, exploring our relationship with the Leven Catchment, we are inviting two artists and creative practitioners who live or work within the catchment to each respond to the ideas emerging from the residency so…
Artist in Residence: Think Like a Catchment
Before this residency, I had never really thought about a catchment. I knew rivers as individual places. I knew landscapes through neighbourhoods, parks, coastlines and hills disconnected experiences perhaps. But a catchment asks us to think differently. It ignores the boundaries we create and instead follows the movement of water, connecting places that might otherwise…
Connecting Young Hearts to Their Catchment
As part of the lead-up to the Catchment Festival, we’ve been delivering nature-based learning sessions for schools across the catchment, both within classrooms and at the beautiful Pond Cottage. These sessions explore how children connect with the rivers and landscapes around them, helping to build a stronger understanding of and relationship with their local catchment.…
