The Embassy of the Baltic Sea and the Embassy of the North Sea gathered in Copenhagen May 21- 22, for exchange, collaboration, and ceremony centered on cross-border water governance from a rights of nature perspective.

A key part of the meeting was a workshop on mapping held by Ziega van den Berk, Sebastian van Berkel and Tea Hadžizulfić from MUST NL. Today’, maps representing the Dogger Bank and the North Sea are static and technocratic in nature. The North Sea is reduced to nothing more than a blue surface with straight lines. These maps contribute to the exploitation and colonisation of the sea. The workshop was held at WW Denmark and we together imagined a new seascape map of the North Sea, exploring how mapping can serve not only as a technical tool, but also as a way of recognizing relationships, responsibilities, and forms of representation.

Ziega van der Berk and Sara Lehman Svensson in map-making mode.


The exercise was part of a project visualizing the dynamics and the complexities of the sea in a way which better reflects ecological realities. One goal of this project is for people to not automatically resort to the present technocratic maps when discussing the future of the Dogger Bank. 

Later the same day an open event - ‘Nature and Democracy: Speaking for Nature’ - was held at BLOXHUB, as a precursor to the conference Rights of Nature and the Future of Democracy June 4-6 at Ry, Denmark.

- The event was set up as a teaser for the conference but it turned out to be much more than that, says Jeppe Dyrendom Graugaard from Earthways. The conversation that emerged felt like a meeting of people, connected by our shared love for nature, about the different ways we can speak with and for nature and what we can do each of us and together. It was heart-warming and confirmed our sense that this sort of meeting is needed right now.

May 22 is Global Biodiversity Day and we gathered in ceremony by the water in central Copenhagen. Zara Waldebäck from Lodyn and Scandinavian Center for Schamanic Studies reminded us about how water connects us, and we mixed water from the seas and sang together while the bridges nearby opened and closed!

Together, the Embassy of the Baltic Sea and the Embassy of the North Sea continue to build transnational conversations about shared concerns around marine stewardship, ecological memory, and the role of water bodies as political actors in their own right. The Copenhagen meeting added a new chapter to this ongoing work, connecting the Baltic and North Sea through dialogue, mapping, and ceremonial recognition.


Pella Thiel pouring water.

All the water ambassadors.

Sara Lehman Svensson from Lodyn, Pella Thiel from Embassy of the Baltic Sea, Zara Waldebäck from Lodyn and Jeppe Dyrendom Graugaard from Earthways DK sporting oceanic colours.

A warm thank you to B-Joe for the beautiful photos!