Confluence 2025
6/9 2025
Thomas Laurien and Martin Hultman representing Lake Vättern in the Netherlands
Confluence of European Water Bodies, 2025
“When 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 representatives that strives for new dialogues and relationships with Europe's water bodies. The network was founded by the Embassy of the North Sea, TBA21–Academy, and ILP Mar Menor. The first edition of the Confluence took place in 2023 at the Mar Menor in Spain – the first European ecosystem to be granted the status of a legal entity. In 2024, this ever-growing community of water bodies gathered at the Venice lagoon.
The Confluence of European Water Bodies 2025 will open in Amsterdam on 21 September 2025, inaugurated by the British writer Robert Macfarlane, followed by a three-day programme organised by the Embassy of the North Sea.
A radical shift in perspective
The Confluence of European Water Bodies is intended for anyone interested in new ways to make the voices of more-than-human life heard in language, law, economics, and politics. ‘The poor ecological state of European waters shows that current water management is unsustainable – for the health of the waters and the people. The solutions sought so far, such as Natura 2000 and the Netherlands Nature Network, have not been able to reverse biodiversity loss,’ argues Christiane Bosman, who leads the Confluence on behalf of the Embassy of the North Sea. ‘A radical shift in perspective is needed, where waters are no longer viewed as human assets, but as living entities that belong to themselves and have the right to better representation, protection, and restoration.’
Programme
During the Confluence, we will be exploring new ways to represent water in cultural, political, and legal domains. The programme, taking place in Amsterdam and Bergen aan Zee, includes workshops, lectures, films, art installations, performances, concerts, and future thinking sessions. The general public is very welcome at the public venues, including De Balie, UvA, Mediamatic, the Amstelkerk, and Filmtheater Cinebergen.”
Full programme here
Water Bodies 2025 are: Akerselva, Baltic Sea, Deep Sea, Dogger Bank, Drina, Genova waters, Irish Sea & Liffey, Klarälven, Laguna de la Janda, Loire, Maas, Mar Menor, Mediterranean, North Sea, Odra, Os_lo Fjord, Ouse, Pek, Piave, Reuss, Reva, Rhine, Rhône, Snæfellsjökul, Spree, Tara, Tagliamento, Tavignanu, Tejo, Ticino, Vättern, Venice lagoon, Viskan, Vistula, Wattenmeer and Zenne
The Confluence of European Water Bodies was founded in 2023 by the Embassy of the North Sea, ILP Mar Menor and TBA21–Academy. The edition 2025 is supported by Cultuurfonds, VriendenLoterij Fonds, Forest Peace and Chalmers University Sweden.
See more about the project at water-bodies.eu.
See more about Lake Vättern in the Confluence context.