Confluence of European Water Bodies
As a grassroots, growing community of care and concern, the Confluence of European Water Bodies aims to foster new dialogues and relationships with water. We invite you to explore, exercise and advocate the representation of Europe’s rivers, seas, lakes, glaciers and lagoons with us!
Water is vital for all life on Earth, yet the voices of water are rarely heard in political decision-making. Current laws and policies cannot stop the loss of biodiversity or the poisoning of soils, lands, waters and air, because they are grounded in the fiction of the natural world as property or ‘resources’ for human desires.
Born out of growing water challenges and demands for water democracy worldwide, the Confluence of European Water Bodies sprang from a collective pursuit of a deeper understanding of the ‘Rights of Nature’ in Europe. As a learning system for water diplomacy, new strategies for effectively representing water in Europe’s cultural, legal and political realms are being explored, rehearsed and advocated.
Confluence editions
The Confluence of European Water Bodies is founded as an interdisciplinary research, support system and campaign for the representation of water in Europe. Our community converged for the first time in September 2023 at the shores of the saltwater lagoon the Mar Menor in Spain. Being the first European ecosystem with legal personhood, this fragile and severely contaminated ecosystem became an example and inspiration for nature protection in Europe. To find out more about the Confluence 2023, have a look here. The second edition of the Confluence took place at the shores of the Venice Lagoon, have a look here.
Participating water bodies
Akerselva, Baltic Sea, Doggerbank, Drina, Genova waters, Klarälven, Loire, Mar Menor, Mediterranean, North Sea, Ouse, Pek, Piave, Reuss, Rhône, Snæfellsjökul, Spree, Tara, Tejo, Vättern, Venice lagoon, Viskan, Vistula, Wattenmeer and Zenne.
Partners
The Confluence of European Water Bodies is founded by the Embassy of the North Sea, ILP Mar Menor and TBA21–Academy. The edition 2024 is supported by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice: NICHE (THE NEW INSTITUTE Center for Environmental Humanities), GARN (Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature), the Italian Buddhist Union, Sea Shepherd, Creative Industries Fund NL and Venice Climate Change Pavilion.