The Confluence of European Water Bodies 2025

Introduction

Every year, water bodies from across the network come together for a unique ritual: Confluence of the European Water Bodies. For a few days, a total of 35 rivers, lakes, and seas meet through their human representatives. The Confluence is a space to share stories, exchange ideas, and imagine a future where nature’s rights are recognised and protected.

The 2025 edition took this gathering to the Netherlands, with events unfolding along the windswept shores of Bergen aan Zee and the vibrant canals of Amsterdam, organised by the Embassy of the North Sea. NR and GARN Europe were invited as key stakeholders, with our own Léa and Lisa joining the dialogue. Our team’s goal at the confluence focused on strengthening the European network of Rights of Nature organisations, creating new connections, and inspiring collaborative action to defend water bodies across the continent.

Day 1 – Opening at De Balie, Amsterdam

The 2025 Waterbodies Confluence opened at De Balie in Amsterdam with an inspiring talk and concert. 

Firstly, author Robert Macfarlane guided attendees on a journey with his central question: Is a river alive? Throughout his talk, Macfarlane highlighted how rivers, from the Amazon to the Amstel, are still often treated as mere resources, subjected to dredging, diversion, and control. He explored the deep cultural, ecological, and spiritual bonds between people and waterways, emphasizing that recognizing rivers as living entities is crucial for restoring damaged ecosystems. His reflections called for a radical reimagining of law, language, and land, a shift from dominion over nature to kinship with it, key principles our organisation advocates for. 

Secondly, the glacial water body, Snæfellsjökull fyrir forseta (famously nominated for the 2024 Icelandic presidency), performed a choral ritual titled Drop, Ripple, Puddle, O. This performance engaged participants in a multi-sensory composition, weaving together visual, sonic, and gestural elements from the many human languages represented at the Confluence. It drew inspiration from the brackish waters of Singelgracht, which were integrated into a cymatic sound sculpture.

Finally, the Confluence moved to its temporary home on the North Sea coast of the Netherlands: the simple, remote, and strikingly beautiful Zeehuis and Huize Glory, nestled among dunes, wind, and sea. Here, participants lived, worked, and came into deeper confluence with one another and with the water bodies they represented. The serene coastal setting provided a space for reflection, collaboration, and connection with nature.

The Zeehuis, operated by Friends of Nature Netherlands, offered the perfect backdrop for the Confluence, with inspiring natural surroundings.

Day 2 – Reflective and Artistic Workshops

The second day of the Confluence invited participants into a series of artistic workshops, co-created rituals, and working sessions shaped by their contributions. Of all the parallel sessions being organised in the morning, our team explored the concept of Body-Territory, asking profound questions: What is a body? Are there bodies that exist beyond consumption, desire, or territory? Can bodies inhabit the world without being confined to societal, racialized, or gendered expectations?

The workshop reflected on how modernity constructed the body as a machine: closed in on itself, defined biologically, sexed, racialized, and assigned social value. In contrast, decolonial feminisms and Indigenous knowledge propose a continuity between bodies and the territories they inhabit. As expressed in slogans across Latin America and the Caribbean: “Our body is our first territory” and “Neither the earth nor our bodies are territories of conquest.” Participants were encouraged to see themselves not just as bodies in a territory, but as Body-Territory, intertwined with the land, water, and ecosystems they live within.

For this session, personal connections were highlighted alongside water bodies: Léa focused on the Mediterranean, while Lisa reflected on the glaciers of the Pyrenees. The workshop was hosted and moderated by Rosa Jijón, fostering critical reflection on how territories shape bodies and how collective action can resist extractivist harm.Through historical and local analysis, participants created Body-Territory maps, identifying extractive activities, environmental, social, and economic impacts, and health implications in their regions.

In the afternoon, Léa and Lisa joined Ocean Litter, Seafloor Stories, a sensory workshop and mindful beach walk designed to uncover the hidden narratives carried by the sea. Walking barefoot along a wild beach, they collected objects washed ashore, both natural and human-made. Through touch-based discovery, storytelling circles, and a playful outdoor exhibition, they examined these objects as carriers of memory, ecology, and human impact. The workshop encouraged reflection on personal and collective relationships with the ocean, highlighting both its beauty and the consequences of pollution. The session was led by Magdalena Tworek and Vena Naskrecka, who collaborate across performance, movement, and participatory art. Magdalena, a mover, actress, and cultural worker, creates playful and reflective spaces that explore participation and fluid identities. Vena, an interdisciplinary artist and researcher, focuses on nature’s rights, social justice, and embodied practices.

Day 3 – Imagining the Future at Museum Kranenburgh

On the third day of the Confluence, participants gathered at Museum Kranenburgh for the Water Bodies Future Thinking Session, moderated in the morning by Carolijn Terwindt and in the afternoon by Claudia Fernandez de Cordoba Farini.

This session marked a key step for the network, shifting the focus from familiarizing participants with each other’s waters and initiatives to collaborative action and long-term planning. Inspired by bold examples of future-oriented projects, members shared their visions for the network’s role and influence in 2045 and pitched concrete ideas for collaboration in the coming years. The goal was to identify how the network could support local initiatives while strengthening collective European action: perfect for GARN Europe ! 

The morning phase featured pitches from inspiring cases, including presentations from Li An Phoa (Drinkable Rivers), Claudia Fernandez de Cordoba Farini (Bioregional Governance & Future Thinking), Kaas Kuitenbrouwer (Zoöp), Christiane Bosman & Pietro Consolandi, and artist Arne Hendriks, who introduced the collective artwork “Tapestry of Minutes.” These short talks prompted participants to reflect on both realistic and ambitious collaborations and to imagine a shared vision for the network.

During the World Café, participants formed small groups to discuss these ideas in depth, contributing keywords, insights, and reflections onto painted strips of paper. These contributions were woven into Hendriks’ Tapestry of Minutes, a visual representation of the collective dialogue. The Bazaar of Ideas followed, allowing participants to move between groups, share feedback, and further categorize and refine the network’s emerging plans.

After lunch, the Harvesting the Future session helped consolidate the discussions, clarifying the main ideas, shared vocabulary, and promising initiatives. Participants explored critical questions, including how to create enabling environments for bottom-up alternatives, combine ontological and political-economic shifts to challenge structural logics, and design inclusive governance for both humans and more-than-human entities.

The third day concluded with the screening of the documentary The Coriolis Effect. Set in Cape Verde, often called “the place where hurricanes are born,” the film offered a poetic and visually striking exploration of our world spinning out of control. Through stunning cinematography of Cape Verdean landscapes, wildlife, and seascapes, the documentary highlighted the increasingly urgent and disturbing relationship between humans and nature.

A recurring narrative thread followed the sea turtles, which inhabit one of the world’s largest nesting grounds. The screening was followed by a Q&A session with director Petr Lohm and producer Corinne van Egeraat, offering participants the opportunity to engage directly with the creators and reflect on the film’s urgent ecological message.

Day 4 – Rights of Nature through the Looking Glass at UvA 

On the final day of the Confluence, Léa and Lisa joined a workshop titled Rights of Nature Beyond the Looking Glass at the University of Amsterdam. The session brought together the Confluence members with researchers from the interdisciplinary project Rights of Nature Through the Looking Glass, led by expert Dr. Laura Burgers. The workshop explored what the rights of nature mean in practice, strategic challenges and successes, and the influence of indigenous and Global South perspectives on European water bodies. The morning began with an informative overview of the team’s ongoing research, including case studies on the Spanish Mar Menor and the Dutch Wadden Sea. Following this, participants engaged in four World Cafés:

1. Your Water Body – sharing personal connections to their water body.
2. Rights of Nature: The Concept – reflecting on the meaning of rights of nature.
3. Global South Perspectives – discussing how indigenous and Global South approaches inspire their work.
4. Challenges and Strategies – exchanging experiences on obstacles and effective approaches for protecting water bodies.

After much interesting conversation, and Lisa even taking the microphone (!), the workshop culminated in the creation of a co-created Insight Document, synthesizing the collective knowledge, strategies, and experiences shared during the session. Dr. Colin Hickey said the final remarks. The researchers also hope to use the insights obtained for a future research project into the rights of nature in Europe. 

The Confluence concluded at Amstelkerk with the inaugural meeting of the Dogger Bank Coalition, focusing on the underwater sandbank at the heart of the North Sea. The Dogger Bank, a unique Natura 2000 area and critical breeding ground, hosts high biodiversity despite its degraded state. Over the next three years, the coalition—led by the Embassy of the North Sea and the Doggerland Foundation—will work to improve the legal, cultural, and political representation of the Dogger Bank, alongside both passive and active nature restoration, aiming for a robust and resilient Dogger Bank by 2050.

The coalition brings together Atlantic Technological University (Ireland), Blue Marine Foundation (UK), BUND (Germany), WWF (Denmark), ARK Rewilding Netherlands, the Embassy of the North Sea, and the Doggerland Foundation (Netherlands). During the evening, coalition founders shared their principles, plans, research, and actions. The School of Dogger Bank presented interdisciplinary research spanning art, design, law, and science, followed by opportunities for dialogue and exchange among attendees. Participants were also invited to sign the coalition’s founding declaration.

The closing was highlighted by a performance of the Water Bodies Orchestra, a digital and interactive project led by artists Harpo ‘t Hart and Steye Hallema. Through this participatory experience, human and non-human voices of water bodies came together in a unique performative moment, marking a resonant end to the 2025 Confluence.