What do you do when you’re faced with a case of river restoration leaving a waterway in worse condition than when it started? In 2021, the River’s of Carbon team, the on-ground component of the Australian River Restoration Centre, took on the task of restoring the Naas River, in the Australian Capital Territory, after two decades of neglect. You’ve likely not heard of the Naas River, but it is a story shared by waterways across Australia. It’s a story of profound disturbance and slow recovery, for the environment and its people. Why? Because we thought biophysical science alone was enough. In the 1990s, inappropriate and wholesale removal of invasive willows along the river's banks left the soil exposed to forceful, eroding flows. As the Naas River continued to degrade, so did the landholder’s trust and confidence in the 'science' that had been used to justify the removals. Once trust is broken, it is very hard to rebuild, and so the Naas River community developed a distrust of outside assistance and a disinterest in revised river management philosophies. With empathy, patience and multi-disciplinary skills, however, this presentation will show how science and human relationships go hand in hand to achieve impactful and long-lasting river restoration. Over the past 18 months, the Rivers of Carbon team has connected 5 landholders, and their visions, to rediscover what a healthy, resilient Naas River could look like. This specifically includes the removal of livestock, installation of alternative water, native revegetation, and mitigation of minor erosion. These interventions were underpinned by social and biophysical science to allow landholders and river restoration practitioners to achieve shared goals. The lessons learnt from this experience apply to scientists, on-ground NRM practitioners and anyone interested in engaging meaningfully with landholders to embed lasting behavioural change and positive river restoration outcomes.