Aarhus, Denmark, Saturday 13 September 2025
A colourful parade of around 150 people is slowly making its way through Aarhus towards the town hall. At the front is Mama Fælled, her head wrapped in a keffiyeh, followed by children, adults, and the elderly. The strong wind catches the flags, both silencing and amplifying the drums and cries of “We are still here! We are still here!” The parade features humans dressed as humans and humans dressed as ambassadors for species: bees, frogs, oak trees, aphids and even the African swine fever virus. Some of the participants wear only a small accessory that hints at the species they represent. Others wear masks and full-body costumes that clearly or less clearly reveal which species they are referring to.
Upon arriving at the town hall square, the participants spread out and start to dance. Long-eared bat raises the megaphone and speaks, demanding that human beings take responsibility. “We are still here, but we also need space. If we disappear, you will disappear too!” The parade participants cheer.
Long-eared bat hands over the megaphone to African swine fever virus. “We are not worried about our existence. We have been around for millions of years and have found a balance with warthogs in central Africa. It is not our fault that you have created an industrial system where billions of pigs are forced to live far too short lives in appalling conditions. But we thrive there, and the poor pigs die like flies when we enter your monstrous systems.”
African swine fever virus hands over the megaphone to an Icelandic campaign group working to get a glacier elected president of Iceland. In a hundred years, virtually all of Iceland’s glaciers will be gone. The group is convinced that the Snæfellsjökull glacier would make an excellent president, who could lead Iceland in the right direction towards a sustainable future.
The campaign group makes way for Eelgrass spirit, who performs a slow, swaying dance with darkness and dignity. The participants in the town hall square follow the movements. The dance is about how the eelgrass has disappeared from many places along our coasts by over 90 per cent. When the eelgrass beds disappear, so do the nurseries for fish. One after another, representatives grab the megaphone and deliver their messages. After a good while in the square, the bodies gather together and leave the place.
The parade is part of the two-day meeting “The Nordic Summit of Species”, with participants from a dozen countries. Most of the programme items are inaccessible to ordinary Aarhus residents, but the parade can leave an impression and send a message to the city. Perhaps it will make someone think about species extinction and the importance of biodiversity? Maybe people think the parade is silly. That doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the parade, and the meeting as a whole, gives us participants an opportunity to come together and share our thoughts and experiences of our involvement in multi-species justice, the Rights of Nature, and our wonderfully nerdy and respectful fascination with the life we share on this planet.
The rest of the summit consists of discussions, presentations and a variety of workshops. There is also plenty of time for networking and socialising. Contacts are made. Plans are forged. In two years’ time, we hope to meet again at a European Summit of Species.
Thomas Laurien
Ambassador for European Black Alder