After spending time with each other at the Confluence of European Water Bodies, an invitation was extended to join two events: a Walking-with, and the Tidal Confluence.

In the Tidal Confluence, we rowed on the river with canoes and thanked the river for all the teachings and forms of care we learned. We made an offering of braid and of the stewardship agreement, weaving together the communities’ stories with the plants that have been allies in all the previous Walking-withs from the source to the confluence.

This invitation precedes a more in-depth exchange and collaboration.

About STILL HERE

STILL HERE is an ephemeral process that is trying to recalibrate the sensuous affection for the SZenne and its kin, to acknowledge water ecosystems and their meaningful relationships. STILL HERE attends to the river, and becomes a shared experience to unlearn current systems of governance and management, to let the river teach us the emergent ripples of care. Giving time to grief and acknowledging our hydro losses, through Walking-with, sensing, and listening to the river, reciprocating and learning from the beings how they care for each other. Asking how we can prepare our porous bodies to learn other ways of care and governance from the river as our teacher.

The relation with the river has been evolving since 2023, with an ongoing Protocol of Reciprocal Care for water bodies. During the process, we become storytellers, the river vessels to remember and acknowledge that the River SZenne is still here.

Find more information on the website of Natural Contract Lab.