Understanding rivers is essential to understanding the 21st Century's planetary crises and the opportunities for unleashing the regenerative capacities of the Living Earth. Water makes life on Earth possible, and rivers connect the webs of life, drawing together freshwater, marine and terrestrial environments. Rivers drive critical natural processes that have shaped the evolution of life on Earth, as well as human patterns of civilization. Rivers that become disconnected – from fertile floodplains, from the ocean, from biotic communities – are compromised in their ability to maintain and generate life.