From 3-6 September 2026, the River Spree will host the fourth Confluence of European Water Bodies in Berlin.
For four days, rivers, lakes, lagoons, glaciers, seas and wetlands from across Europe will gather to explore a set of shared questions: How can we live with water differently? What responsibilities emerge when we recognise aquatic ecosystems as living entities? How do we build cultures of care around water?
This year’s edition unfolds across four locations in Berlin: FLUSSBAD Campus, SPORE Initiative, Spreepark Art Space and Floating University Berlin. Over four days, participants will gather through workshops, performances, collective meals, rituals, listening sessions, artistic interventions, public conversations and a multispecies parliament. The programme also features a keynote by renowned hydrofeminist philosopher and cultural theorist Astrida Neimanis.
The Confluence is a growing pan-European network and campaign of over 50 water bodies and their communities, working across art, ecology, law, activism, research and public engagement. It calls for the legal and cultural recognition of water bodies as living and political actors, while creating spaces to experiment with new forms of water, stewardship, democracy, and ecological coexistence.
Curatorial, Design & Research Lead
Léon Gross & Jakob Kukula (Symbiotic Lab)
Hosts
River Spree · FLUSSBAD Campus · SPORE Initiative · Spreepark Art Space · Floating University Berlin
Co-hosts & Co-curators
Netzwerk Stadtraumkultur · Berlin University Alliance · On Water. Parcours · Bildungswerk Berlin der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung · SPORE Initiative · Barbara Unmüßig (Strategic Advisor)
Collaborators
Rights of the Spree Initiative · Confluence STREAM · Embassy of the North Sea · TBA21–Academy · ILP Mar Menor
Supported by / Funded by
Bildungswerk Berlin derHeinrich-Böll-Stiftung · JUA Foundation · Okeanos Foundation · Berlin University Alliance · On Water. Parcours · IVU Stiftung · Stiftung Living Rivers / GRÜNE LIGA · Goethe-Institut · Campus Stadtnatur Berlin · Hochschule Darmstadt · Rechte der Natur e.V.· Netzwerk Rechte der Natur · Backstagetourism · Berliner Landeszentrale für politische Bildung
In partnership with
Barbara Unmuessig (Strategic Advisor) · Astrida Neimanis · Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) · Organismendemokratie e.V. · buero gross · River Collective · Polisphere · OUTRA · Blaues Wunder Berlin · SpreeBerlin · Theresa Maria Forthaus (Photo & Video) · Freddy Adelmann (Graphic Design)
Water bodies:
We are: Akerselva (NO), Antarctica, Baltic Sea (SE, FI, LV), Caspian Sea, Danube (AT), Deep Sea, Dogger Bank (NL, DE, DK, UK), Dreisam (DE), Drina (SRB), Elbe (DE), Euphrates, Genova Waters (IT), Gudenå (DK), Irish Sea (UK), River Liffey (UK), Klarälven (SE, NO), Laguna de la Janda (ES), Lake Inari (FI), Loire (FR), Loisach (DE), Manzanares (ES), Mar Menor (ES), Mediterranean, Meuse / Maas (NL), Modau (DE), Mtkvari (GE), North Sea (NL), Odra (PL, CZ), Oslo Fjord (NO), Ouse (UK), Pek (SRB), Piave (IT), Reuss (CH), Reva (SRB), Rhine (NL), Rhône (CH), River Avon (UK), River Dôn (UK), Scheldt (NL, BE), Seine (FR), Snæfellsjökull (IS), Spree (DE), Storsjön (SE), Tagliamento (IT), Tara (ME), Tavignanu (FR), Tay (UK), Tejo (PT), Ticino (CH), Tigris, Topčiderka (SRB), Vättern (SE), Venice Lagoon (IT), Viskan (SE), Vistula (PL), Wattenmeer / Wadden Sea (NL, DE), and Zenne (BE).