The third edition of the Confluence of European Water Bodies will take place in the Netherlands, from 21–24 September 2025. On September 21st, we will open with a choral ritual titled Drop, Ripple, Puddle, O (shortened as O). As the Confluence joins 35 grassroots movements advocating for the representation of regional waterbodies, O will thread the many represented human languages into our invocation. The collective Snæfellsjökul fyrir forseta (Iceland) has devised the opening ritual for the 2025 Confluence. Snæfellsjökul fyrir forseta is Iceland’s first rights of nature movement, having nominated Snæfellsjökull for the 2024 Icelandic presidency. Collective members co-devising O are Daniela Amado, Stijn Brinkman, Corinna Duschl, Linnéa Falck, Galadriel González Romero, Vena Naskręcka, angela Snæfellsjökuls rawlings, and Daria Testo.
Robert Macfarlane will follow the ritual opening of Confluence with a talk about his new book Is A River Alive?
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, Snæfellsjökull, 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.