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Diplomatic suitcase
Diplomatic suitcase Water is vital for all life on Earth, yet the voices of water are rarely heard in political decision-making. 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.…
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Ingrid de Vries
Ingrid de Vries (1972) worked for a chemical company at the decision support and control department, after graduating at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). In between calculating cost prices, she launched a waste management project. She often found herself at the wastewater treatment plant, talking with the operator about how the bacteria were “eating” the chemical…
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Roberta Bosu
Roberta Bosu is a strategist, storyteller, and environmental advocate with extensive experience driving transformative change across environmental, economic, and political sectors. As Global Campaign Lead for Antarctic Rights and founder of Re.vert Studio, she creates impactful narratives that inspire action for planetary protection. Roberta serves as a European Climate Pact Ambassador for the European Commission,…
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Amalia Rossi
Born in Pavia and raised in the same city, in the Borgo Ticino district, along the banks of the Ticino “blue river”, Amalia Rossi is a Fellow Researcher at THE NEW INSTITUTE – Center for Environmental Humanities (NICHE) at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and a member of the working team of the Venice…
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Christine Sponholz-van Leeuwenstijn
Christine Sponholz-van Leeuwenstijn is a legal translator and student of Intuitive Interspecies Communication (IIC). She has dedicated her work as a translator to translating academic, journalistic, and non-fiction texts for the German-speaking markets that challenge anthropocentrism and human exceptionalism and offer alternative approaches to help navigate the socio-ecological challenges of our time. Christine is currently…
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Volker von Bremen
Volker von Bremen, anthropologist (PhD) and co-founder of the Loisachbündnis. Born on the Lahn River and raised close to the Hahnenbach (nicknamed the ‘Köttelbecke’ or ‘Dung Ditch’) in the Ruhr region. Studied anthropology, philosophy and economics at the Lahn and at the water bodies in Berlin. Conducted research and practical cooperation with indigenous peoples, primarily…
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Laguna de la Janda
Once spanning over 7,000 hectares, La Janda was the largest inland wetland in the Iberian Peninsula and the southernmost marsh complex in Europe. Nestled in the province of Cádiz, Andalucía, it formed a seasonal mosaic of shallow lagoons and lush marshes, sustained by the rivers Barbate, Celemín, and Almodóvar. This vibrant ecosystem served as a…
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Thomas De Ming
Thomas De Ming is a RangeMaker, and his mission is to contribute to the transition to a sustainable society by helping us all get more range: to be able to think beyond, go further and last longer.
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Reva
Reva is a wetland area located within the territory of the city of Belgrade, specifically in the floodplain of the Danube River. This area is ecologically significant due to its natural processes, just like all other wetland habitats, and is therefore no less important. It boasts rich biodiversity, with as many as 130 species of…
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New Chapter Diplomatic Suitcase in Lisbon
From April 2 2025, the Diplomatic Suitcase will be exhibited in the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) in Lisbon as part of the exhibition Interspecies. The Diplomatic Suitcase is the travelling exhibition of the Confluence of European Water Bodies, our European community with now over 25 grass roots activists, artists & academics representing Europes glaciers, seas, lakes, lagunes and rivers.…
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Scheldt River (l’Escaut)
L’Escaut sources in Gouy (North France) at 100 meters above sea level, flows as Schelde through Ghent (West Belgium) and Antwerp, meanders as Western Scheldt (Southwest of the Netherlands) into the North Sea. In 350 km, the river widens to 65 meters (Ghent), 450 meters (Antwerp), 5.000 meters (Flushing). The yearly discharge of fresh water…
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Confluence North Sea
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Modau
The Modau River is an average German river in the lower mountain area of Odenwald south of Frankfurt, she is 44 kilometres long and flows into the Rhein River at Stockstadt. Her sister is called Gersprenz. They were both born on the mountain of Neunkirchner Höhe (605 m), and the sources are situated only one…
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Gert-Jan Stam
Gert-Jan Stam has a background in visual arts and theatre and is currently mostly interested in ‘multispecies cocreation’. He is co-founder of the transdisciplinary arts collective TAAT. Their practice is rooted in the interplay between architecture and theatre, which has evolved to creating ecosystems of encounter, shifting between artistic research, social practice and regenerative learning.…
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Cecylia Malik
Cecylia Malik is is visual artist and environmental activist. She is part of the Save the Rivers Coalition. She is the author and the leader of the nationwide social campaign and collective ‘River Sisters’.
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The Diplomatic Suitcase travels to Slovakia
The Diplomatic Suitcase—the Confluence’s traveling exhibition— has journeyed to Galéria Jána Koniarka in Trnava, Slovakia, as part of the exhibition ´Contracts of Recognition´, curated by Lucia Bergamaschi & David Přílučík, on view until May 31, 2026. ´Contracts of Recognition´ depart from a set of intertwined questions: How can alliances be imagined beyond the human? What…
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Giulia Della Marina
Giulia Della Marina, 62, is a social anthropologist who has been working in various countries in South America and Italy, fostering the self-determination of Indigenous peoples’ groups and organizations. She has also served for several years in Bosnia and Herzegovina within different international organizations dealing with mediation, peace-building, and the democratisation process in the immediate…
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Franco Nicoletti
Franco Nicoletti was born in Crocetta del Montello, on the very edge of the Grave di Ciano, an area which was a sort of natural playground for him and for a lot of his mates. After obtaining the Liceo Scientificio diploma, he started his career, first as an employee and then as an entrepreneur in…
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Watch the Confluence of European Water Bodies 2023 short film
The first Confluence of European Water Bodies took place in September 2023 on the shores of the Mar Menor, the first ecosystem with legal personhood in Europe. We weaved connectivity and collectivity with waters from Poland to Italy, from Sweden to France, from Serbia to Montenegro, to Germany and the UK. We mourned over lost landscapes…
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Genova waters
Stretched between sea and mountains, Genova has developed in length (with its approx. 35 km, it is one of the longest cities in Italy) and is crossed by over 70 streams, rivulets and brooks that have been "buried" for urban and industrial reasons since the Middle Ages. The water bodies of this area, a complex, living and transcultural port...
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Leon Lapa Pereira
Leon Lapa Pereira joined the Embassy of the North Sea in 2023 as producer of the project Designing Self representation of water bodies in Europe. He is a cross-disciplinary performance researcher who develops experienceable ecologies between humans and more-than-humans.
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Robert Rient
Robert Rient initiated the recognition of the Odra River as a legal person and established the Odra Tribe. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Odra Person Foundation, a Member of the International Observatory for the Rights of Nature, Save the Rivers Coalition, and Literary Union Association. He also acts as…
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Aleksandra Velimanović
Aleksandra Velimanović, master in the field of integrated management of natural resources, has been in the civil sector for 25 years, and since 2006 one of the founders and members of the citizens’ association “NIMBUS” from Loznica.
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Agata Julia Foksa-Biegaj
Agata Julia Foksa-Biegaj is a lawyer specializing in international law and human rights, a PhD researcher, and a member of the Osoba Odra Foundation. Her work explores ecological justice, systemic transformation, and the rights of nature, bridging legal, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives.
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Morača & Tara
As some of the last remaining wild rivers in Europe, Montenegro’s Morača and Tara rivers stand as monuments of extraordinary natural importance. The Tara River, home to the world’s second-largest canyon, showcases the grandeur of wild landscapes, while the Morača River, brimming with rich biodiversity, is the next candidate after Vjosa to attain “wild river national park” status.
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Olivia Henkel
Oliva Henkel, anthropologist, marine biology activist and cofounder of the Loisachbündnis, was born on the banks of the Partnach in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Loisach Valley. She grew up surrounded by wild nature and cold mountain streams in the Bavarian Alps and loves water as her element. As an anthropologist, she worked on well construction projects…
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Greet Brauwers & Raf Custers
Greet Brauwers is a researcher, filmmaker, and artist based in Brussels. After her studies, she worked in the media, combining her journalistic work with a socio-artistic practice, exploring the possibilities of engaged visual and narrative practices, setting up audiovisual projects, and documentary filmmaking. Since 2016, she has connected with artistic practice. With Raf Custers, they…
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Thijs Middeldorp
Thijs Middeldorp (1978) is co-owner of campaign and design agency Partizan Publik, director of the Amsterdam 4 and 5 May committee, curator of the Groningen Atelier aan de Middendijk, co-founder of energy cooperative Amsterdam Energie and board member of various cultural organizations.
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Confluence of European Water Bodies 2025
Full ProgrammeWhen two or more rivers meet in a landscape, they flow together and continue as one body of water: they ‘confluence’. From 21 to 24 September 2025, representatives of more than 35 European seas, lakes, rivers, wetlands, lagoons, and glaciers will confluence in the Netherlands. The Confluence 2025 is a growing interdisciplinary community of water…
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Teresa Conesa
Teresa Conesa is part of the citizen movement Banderas Negras, later constituted as an association Alianza Mar Menor ( AMARME ) and a member of the promoters of the ILP of the Mar Menor.