With contributions from Nehizena Osagie, ecologist and designer, Waag Futurelab; Miha Turšič, senior researcher Planetary Imaginaries, Waag Futurelab; Isayvani Naicker, science policy expert, Evisights; Emilie Reuchlin, Marine Biologist, Doggerland Foundation; Harpo ‘t Hart, Embassy of the North Sea.

Read more about the other working group within the School of Dogger Bank here

The post School of Dogger bank sixth working group: data availability and analysis appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.

Water Bodies Orchestra now presents a new edition: La Laguna Parla

The Water Bodies Orchestra has been selected by the Venice International Film Festival. A special edition has now been created titled La Laguna Parla. This smartphone-guided group experience builts around an indisputable truth: humans are mostly water. From this comes a second, equally profound realization: every person on Earth is a tiny drop in an endlessly recycling ecosystem- water itself. Share a ritual of listening, movement, interaction and imagination. As the phones synchronise, individual sounds merge into a spatial composition: a shifting field of rain, wind and current that flows through the space and through the crowd. Drops of rain emerge from each phone, gathering into a fierce storm, which dissolves into streams, rivers and open seas. These waterbodies then begin to speak in the first person, voicing their joys, hopes and fears.

La Laguna Parla was created by The Smartphone Orchestra / Steye Hallema in collaboration with the Confluence of European Water Bodies, Embassy of the North Sea, Harpo ‘t Hart and Letizia Artioli and derived from the original Water Bodies Orchestra.

Performance dates

The official launch of La Laguna Parla will be at the Venice Biennial, September 5 2026 at Venice Immersive.

Friday, August 21, 2026 a try-out of La Laguna Parla will be performed at Het Documentaire Paviljoen, Vondelpark 3 in Amsterdam. Please join us and share your feedback with us. Register here.

Read the Declaration for the Venice Lagoon here

The post La Laguna Parla – new edition of the Water Bodies Orchestra appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.

𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 is the title of this special (free) edition of 𝘓𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴. The publication brings together contributions from a diverse group of artists, activists, academics and water professionals from our Confluence network. Together, they explore new ways of living alongside the non-human water world and challenge anthropocentric laws and regulations. The publication offers an innovative perspective on the European Rights of Nature movement, with particular attention to the grassroots groups leading the way.

The publication includes, among other contributions, the essay that British writer 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲 wrote especially for Confluence in 2025. It also features an article by Claudia Fernandez de Cordoba Farini, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺, based on interviews with Christiane Bosman and Harpo ’t Hart. The article sketches a vision of the year 2045 in which governance of the North Sea is rooted in ecological relationships, the representation of non-human life, and post-growth economies. Its central message: our imagination is a political tool that can transform law, culture and governance!

Download the publication here

Learn more about the Confluence of European Water Bodies here

The post New publication Confluence of European Water Bodies! appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.

July 2026, the World Architecture Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) will be held in the architectural capital of Barcelona. It is a gathering where thousands of architects from all over the world come together for lectures, debates, and workshops centered around the theme architecture for a planet in transition.

For the accompanying exhibition in the former monumental power plant, Les Tres Xemeneies de Besòs, designers Dirk Sijmons, Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze, Ro Koster, and Herman Kossmann—together with a team of co-designers, scientists, and artists—have realized a presentation. It demonstrates how we can enable our land to rise along with the inevitable sea level rise by harnessing forces of nature. It illustrates how ‘flood-retaining landscapes’ can gradually form in strategic places by smartly deploying the immense power of the tides and the accompanying slipstream.

Embassy of the North Sea presents a peep box

The presentation consists of a monumental 8-minute film, 16 spectacular peepboxes (kijkdozen), and two large school charts. Together, they show how we can awaken natural forces that thrive at the intersection of fresh and salt water, which flood every 6 hours and dry out again, leaving behind a thin layer of sand and silt. In short, restoring this specific dynamic of the estuary ensures the stabilization and retention of this gradual land elevation. They demonstrate how robust nature can revive in the sea, on land, and in the intertidal zone—nature that does not need to be protected like a greenhouse plant, but can ultimately help protect us. This ‘nature engineering’, the creation of sea-defense landscapes, might just prove to be civil engineering for advanced learners. It is an addition to our repertoire of water safety that also expresses a changing perspective on nature.

On tour in the Netherlands

After Barcelona, the exhibition will tour through the Netherlands. The presentation at the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) in September is already confirmed. The exhibition will also travel to the annual Delta Congress, the Springtij festival on Terschelling, and the provinces of Zeeland and Groningen. The rest of the tour is currently being finalized.

The post Sea level rise? Land level rise! appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.

At the centre of the North Sea lies the Dogger Bank, an undersea nature reserve covering over 25,000 km² and one of the most important ecosystems in Europe. As the nursery of the North Sea, the area is crucial for the biodiversity and health of the marine ecosystem as a whole. But the Dogger Bank is severely damaged, and despite its protected Natura 2000 status, the ecosystem remains under pressure, while large-scale recovery lags behind.

We want to change that.

Since 2025, the Doggerland Foundation and the Embassy of the North Sea have been working together with a coalition of Dutch and international partners on Rewilding Dogger Bank Seascape, an ambitious programme that connects nature restoration, legal cases, art, design, science, lobbying, public imagination and social involvement. It is a joint effort across borders and disciplines, because real change can only be achieved if the underlying worldview culture, values and policy move together. An important part of this programme is an international 21-day sailing expedition to the Dogger Bank and the subsequent Dogger Bank Days in The Hague.

We ask for your support to make this unique combination of ecological restoration research, public mobilization and cultural imagination possible. If together we succeed in giving the heart of one of the busiest seas in the world the time, peace and space it needs to restore itself, Rewilding Dogger Bank Seascape can become a blueprint and source of inspiration for large-scale cross-border ecosystem restoration.

Can we count on your support? Please contact us to discuss possibilities: info@ambassadevandenoordzee.nl

Kind regards,

Doggerland Foundation & Embassy of the North Sea

The post Support Expedition Dogger Bank and invest in the heart of the North Sea appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.

We are happy to announce that the Confluence of European Water Bodies 2026 will take place in Berlin from 3 to 6 September 2026, along the River Spree. Curated by Symbiotic Lab, the Berlin edition places the River Spree at its centre and is developed in close dialogue with the growing Rights of the Spree (Rechte der Spree) initiative. Together with local hosts and partners, including FLUSSBAD Campus, SPORE Initiative, Spreepark Art Space and Floating University, the Confluence creates spaces for exchange between local and international communities while exploring how water can be recognised as a legal, ecological, political, and cultural presence within the city.

Across four days, participants will gather through workshops, performances, collective meals, rituals, listening sessions, a multispecies parliament, artistic interventions, and public conversations. The programme features a keynote by renowned aquatic philosopher and cultural theorist Astrida Neimanis, alongside contributions from activists, researchers, artists, lawyers and water communities from across Europe.

Through these encounters, the Confluence seeks to strengthen existing initiatives, spark new collaborations, exchange practical strategies for water stewardship, and cultivate broader public engagement with the question of how humans and water bodies might coexist more justly.

Across four days, the programme will unfold through:

🌊 Workshops & public interventions
🌊 Collective singing & water rituals
🌊 Performances & listening sessions
🌊 Rights of Nature assemblies
🌊 Multispecies democracy formats
🌊 Collective cooking & river-based experiences
🌊 Talks, panels & artistic research presentations

The internal programme is fully booked, but public events will open for registration soon. Stay tuned!

Partners

Curated by
Symbiotic Lab (Léon Gross & Jakob Kukula)

Hosted by
FLUSSBAD Campus · SPORE Initiative · Spreepark Art Space · Floating University · Netzwerk Stadtraumkultur

Funded and Supported by
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung · JUA Foundation · Okeanos Foundation · Berlin University Alliance · IVU Stiftung · Backstagetourism · Heinrich-Böll-Bildungswerk Berlin · Netzwerk Rechte der Natur · Stiftung Living Rivers / GRÜNE LIGA · Goethe-Institut · Campus Stadtnatur Berlin

In Collaboration with
Rights of the Spree Initiative · Embassy of the North Sea · TBA21–Academy · ILP Mar Menor · Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) · River Collective

About the Confluence

The Confluence is a growing pan-European network of water bodies and their communities, working across art, ecology, law, activism, research, and public engagement. Launched in 2023 by the Embassy of the North Sea, TBA21–Academy, and ILP Mar Menor at the shores of the Spanish saltwater lagoon, the first ecosystem in Europe with legal personhood, it calls for the legal and cultural recognition of water bodies as living entities with rights, intrinsic value, and agency. Acting as a campaign, research network, and community of practice, the Confluence explores what forms of democracy, governance, and stewardship might emerge when ecosystems are recognized as political and legal actors alongside humans.

The post Confluence of European Water Bodies 2026 appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.

With marine biologists, artists, donors, nature organizations and documentary makers, we sailed from Den Helder, passed sandbanks full of seals, greeted a gannet, and .. did we spot the fins of a porpoise ..?

Knowledge, stories, emotions and perspectives were shared on board. Water and soil samples were taken, observations and experiences were recorded with hydrophones, (underwater) drones, pencil, pen, paint, camera and video.

Very grateful to share this day with such an amazing group! With all the ideas, enthusiasm and support we received, we will continue to realize the 21-day sailing expedition in 2027 to the Dogger Bank to ask attention for a healthy and resilient breeding ground of the North Sea.

Thanks everyone! Fair Ferry, Doggersbank Coalitie: Stichting Doggerland,ARK Rewilding Nederland, Bundesamt für Naturschutz – Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Blue Marine Foundation, WFF Denmark

School of Dogger Bank: Anne de Andrade, Kocku von Stuckrad, Corine Datema, Sami Hammana, Jonat Deelstra, Pim Havinga, Xandra van der Eijk, Thijs de Zeeuw, Must Stedebouw

Thanks to: BPD Cultuurfonds, VriendenLoterij Fonds, Forest Peace, Tanka, Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie

The post Try out Dogger Bank expedition successful! appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.

The post Rights of Nature case dialogue appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.

June 4 2026, 13.00 – 16.30 (including a visit to the exhibition drift. dune to dogger bank)

This programme is in English 

The Embassy of the North Sea, Doggerland Foundation and Museum Panorama Mesdag are pleased to invite you to the programme Dogger Bank Cultural Diplomacy: From restoring to restorying the Dogger Bank, taking place on 4 June 2026, from 13:00 to 16:30, in Museum Panorama Mesdag.

This afternoon we explore new ways of understanding multispecies cultural diplomacy by approaching the Dogger Bank not as a shared space for interstate cooperation, but as a political actor in its own right, an entity with intrinsic value that we engage with, listen to and represent. Artists, curators, researchers and diplomats are invited to rethink and reimagine cultural diplomacy not about but with the Dogger Bank, grounded in perspectives and storytelling from the Netherlands and the UK.

This programme is part of the exhibition DRIFT: Dune to Dogger Bank (21 March – 13 September 2026) at Museum Panorama Mesdag.

Rewilding Dogger Bank

The Dogger Bank, a vast shallow sandbank in the North Sea, is a vital nursery for sharks, rays, herring and cod, as well as a year-round rich feeding ground for whales and seabirds. It is a Natura 2000 Marine Protected Area. This protection, however, exists mostly on paper, as harmful activities and ecosystem decline continues. Largely out of sight, the Dogger Bank serves as a diplomatic space where the Netherlands, UK, Denmark and Germany negotiate interests such as fisheries, energy, environmental protection and shipping.

Since 2025, an international coalition (Doggerland Foundation (NL), Embassy of the North Sea (NL), ARK Rewilding (NL), Blue Marine Foundation (UK), BUND (DE) and WWF (DK)) have joined forces to restore a healthy and resilient Dogger Bank. Through the Rewilding Dogger Bank Programme, together we pursue legal action, reef restoration, research and imagination, while fostering a broad, democratic dialogue on the future of the North Sea.

We cannot protect what we do not know

Within the Rewilding Dogger Bank Programme, the School of Dogger Bank is an experimental platform for learning and engagement, inviting artists, researchers and audiences to develop unconventional perspectives, artistic research and design approaches that strengthen the Dogger Bank’s cultural, political and legal position. Outcomes take the form of publications, artworks, assemblies, expeditions and exhibitions, with selected artists also featured in DRIFT: Dune to Dogger Bank.

One of the School of Dogger Bank’s first aims is to understand our complex relationship with this distant seascape. Because we cannot protect what we do not know. In the UK, close cultural and economic ties to the Dogger Bank mean that Doggerland features more strongly in the public imagination. This afternoon, we will explore British and Dutch perspectives on Dogger Bank storytelling – historical, political, cultural and multispecies – to deepen our understanding of this vital North Sea ecosystem and spark cross-border collaborations across the four Dogger Bank countries and beyond.

The post From Restoring to Restorying the Dogger Bank appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.

Contracts of Recognition depart from a set of intertwined questions: How can alliances be imagined beyond the human? What does it mean to represent more-than-human entities within legal, political, and artistic frameworks? And how does ownership—of land, bodies, or futures—shape the conditions under which recognition becomes possible? The exhibition is on view from 19 March to 31 May 2026.

Credits

Art direction and design by Leon Lapa Pereira (Embassy of the North Sea) & Jakob Kukula (Spree Berlin), co-produced by the Confluence of European Water Bodies

Graphic design: Eva van Bemmelen and Corine Datema

Commissioned by the Embassy of the North Sea, ILP Mar Menor, TBA21–Academy/Ocean Space. Thanks to Creative Industries Fund

The post Diplomatic Suitcase travels to Slovakia appeared first on Embassy of the North Sea.