Making ‘Our Backyard River’

Rivers don’t adhere to the jurisdictional boundaries we’ve given them.

The Cooks River is one of Australia’s most urbanised and polluted rivers in Australia. This river is the site of some of the earliest recorded contact between Europeans and the Gadigal, Wangal & Bidjigal People. Since European colonisation, the river has been dredged, dammed and diverted.

A new narrative for the river was needed. One that harnesses both the deep history and the possible future, as a well-love urban waterway. The Cooks River Alliance, who has been tasked with coordinating the river’s management, understood the need to create a shared narrative for the river. One that speaks to the scale of this small but important river. It started out with the simple fact that the river is in many local residents’ backyard.

For this project, I was fortunate to work with an incredibly talented team to develop the idea into a new way of imagining this urban river. On the team was Jess Miller (Collective Impact Strategist), award winning photographer Nic Walker and videographer Brook Mitchell. Designs were created by Giles Kershaw.

 Our Backyard River captures the unique character of the Cooks river and catchment, as something familiar and at a human scale. We chose to focus on the people who live, work and play and along the river.

The campaign was rolled out across the city in April and May 2025, on phone booths, signage on the river and digital billboards. This stage of the project was designed to generate hype and ‘brand awareness.’

Digital advertising space was provided by JCDecaux and local Councils. Our Backyard River was splashed across billboards near Sydney Airport and on major intersections within the Catchment.