PROGRAMME:

10.00-10.15: Welcome
10.15-11.00: Opening with Teater Viva
11.15-13.00: Workshops, round 1
13.00-14.00: Lunch
14.00-15.45: Workshops, round 2
15.45-16.15: Coffee break
16.15-17.00: Ending and closing with Teater Viva

The main language on the day will be Danish but some of the workshops will also be offered in English. There will be activities for children by Natur og Ungdom all day.

Workshops, 11.15-13.00 (round 1): 

Pella Thiel, SE (Embassy of the Baltic Sea): A Consulate of the Baltic Sea in every watershed

Even if we live far from the sea, everything we do on land impacts the wellbeing of the Baltic Sea. So far, we are not doing very well; the Baltic Sea is described as one of the most polluted waterbodies on the planet. What if we governed ourselves with the needs of the sea in focus? The Embassy of the Baltic Sea is developing a distributed model of consulates to represent the interests of more-than-human beings, and water itself. This work is in an early stage - let´s co-create!

Martin Lee Mueller, NO (General Secretary, Arne Næss Foundation)

Johanne Mygind, DK (forfatter til 'Giftig'): Giftig jord - giftige mennesker

Johanne Myginds morfar var driftdirektør på Cheminova fra 1953-1960 og ansvarlig for giftdepotet ved Høfde 42. I hendes roman Giftig fortæller hun historien om sin familie, som i generationer var drevet af drømmen om social opstigen og materiel tryghed og undersøger om det er muligt at rense sig selv for ambitionens gift

Jonathan Horwitz and Zara Waldebäck, SE (Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies): Cultivating connection

How can animistic approaches inform, underpin and inspire rights of nature practices? How can we speak not only for more-than-human-nature but also with? How can animism open doors for representation in rights of nature work? This workshop will be a communal exploration of such questions, as well as an experiential taster of possibilities. When we begin to listen to more-than-human perspectives, what do we discover?

Christine van Leeuwenstijn-Sponholz, NL (interspecies communicator): It’s in our nature: how our intuition can help us hear what Nature wants to share

One question that keeps coming up in RoN debates and other contexts where the voice of Nature is given a seat at the table (such as the ‘Nature on the board’/ ‘Nature governance’ initiatives), is the question of adequate representation. How can we truly speak for Nature? How can we know what Nature wants us to bring to the table in her name? In response to this highly relevant question, the workshop proposes an approach that focuses on something we tend to forget when we try to ‘fix’ a problem: our bodies. More accurately: our physical capability to intuitively connect with other life forms and receive tangible input.

There is a term for this innate capability all humans and non-human animals share: intuitive interspecies communication (in short: IIC). The purpose of the workshop is two-fold: one is to inform about IIC: what it is (and what it is not), how it is already being applied in conservation efforts, why it makes sense to include it in decisions that have an effect on Nature, and how we can practice and include it in our Nature-related jobs and our personal lives. The other purpose is to give workshop participants an idea of how such an intuitive connection can feel like. This is the fun part. Through breathwork, sensory exercises and a guided meditation, participants are given an opportunity to practice connecting with an element of Nature they love. This can be an animal, a plant, a water body, a mountain, a landscape, or even the Earth herself. The physically rooted experience of the consciousness ‘on the other side’ is more convincing than any theoretical lecture can be. Why is this important? The natural world has been in the game of ecological crisis, adaptation, renewal, and survival for millions of years. It has a lot to teach us. Are we ready to listen?

Jacob Rask, DK (Copenhagen Doughnut): Deep Time Walk

Deep Time Walk is a transformative journey through 4.6bn years of Earth history via a 4.6km guided walk. It is an invitation to view the world differently, encouraging positive action and advocacy for a regenerative Earth.

The Nalluvia Collective, DK (Collaborative Roleplaying): Exploring More-than-Human Futures Through Collaborative Roleplay

In this collaborative storytelling workshop, participants step into the roles of shapeshifters navigating ecological and social tensions through a game set in the fictional world of Nalluvia. Together, we explore what happens when humans understand themselves not as separate from nature, but as part of a living web of relationships. No prior role-playing experience is needed. The workshop focuses on imagination, dialogue, and collaborative exploration rather than performance or acting.

Michael Stig Ørbech, DK (forfatter til 'Naturinspireret Lederskab'): Når naturen er vores læremester

Hvordan naturinspireret lederskab styrker vores naturrelation og vilje til at beskytte naturens rettigheder. I dette involverende oplæg undersøger vi, hvordan naturinspireret lederskab kan være en konkret vej til en dybere naturrelation — og dermed til større omsorg, ansvar og vilje til at beskytte naturens rettigheder. Deltagerne introduceres til, hvad naturinspireret lederskab er, og afprøver forskellige øvelser, der åbner for, hvordan naturen kan inspirere vores personlige og relationelle liv i praksis. Når vi konkret lærer at lade naturen være en kilde til den måde, vi lever, leder og indgår i relationer på, bliver den en nær ven og læremester, der vækker vores forbundethed med - og respekt for - alt levende.

Frej Pries Schmedes, DK (Arternes Ambassade København): Menneskets væsen og naturens grundlov
Debatoplæg om jegbevidsthed, natursyn i vildfarelse og tamfarelse. Vi skal efter oplæg fra artsambassadør, natur-filminstruktør og naturvejleder, Frej Pries Schmedes, drøfte natursyns påvirkning af samfundet og hvordan vi opnår at omdanne til det degenerative artsrige, på Jord. Natursyn:

- er det æstetiske natursyns antropocentrisk?

- er det stærkt nok til at bære omstillingen til artsrigt demokrati ?

Og hvad kan det økocentriske natursyn med og mod materialismen og egocentrismen?

- Er nyttesynet, kaldt nedladende bondementalitet, mere reelt, i dets erkendelse af afhængighed af biosfærens øko-systemtjenester, men
- Er dette i praksis blevet til et udnytte-natursyn, enda med tvang fra verdens gældsøkonomi, under kapitalismen?

- Er nymaterislisme og en animistisk inspireret posthumanisme stien at gå?

Står det tamme og det vilde i alle, i virkeligheden mere som modpoler, end kultur kontra natur gør?

Workshops, 14.00-15.45 (round 2):

Adam Switala, IS (Snæfellsjökul fyrir forseta): Listening Away

Unlike what you might have been taught, musicality is not a rare talent—it is a basic human (and not just human) capacity to connect, communicate, and "make things special" (Dissanayake). It is not optional; it is a matter of survival. Through simple vocal interaction (speaking is one!), listening exercises, and simple movement, participants will explore the tensions between harmony and disharmony and examine the choices we make—often without noticing—about relating and not relating to other living beings, things, and phenomena. R. Murray Schafer wrote that we have no earlids: if so, why do we listen away so often? What does it cost a community, a democracy, an ecosystem?

Claudia Fernandez de Cordoba Farini, UK (Living Imaginaries): Reimagining governance with living waters

What might become possible if rivers, seas, fjords, wetlands, and watersheds were approached not as resources to manage, but as living systems we learn to govern with? Bring a river, coast, fjord, wetland, or watershed meaningful to you into this participatory workshop exploring how relationships, governance, and democratic life around living waters could be organised differently in the future. Through collaborative future-thinking exercises, more-than-human perspectives, and cross-ecosystem exchange, participants will collectively imagine alternative ecological futures, share experiences across places and practices, and explore pathways toward more relational and democratic forms of governance. ´The session builds on an ongoing bioregional series reimagining governance with the North Sea and connected rivers through Living Imaginaries’ RIPPLE methodology and creates a space to meet, share and grow together. For more info contact: claudia@livingimaginaries.com

Michael Stig Ørbech, DK (forfatter til 'Naturinspireret Lederskab'): With nature as our guide

How Nature-Inspired Leadership Deepens Our Relationship with Nature - and Strengthens Our Will to Protect the Rights of Nature. In this participatory workshop, we explore how nature-inspired leadership opens pathways to a deeper relationship with nature — and thereby to greater care, responsibility and willingness to protect the rights of nature. Participants are introduced to what nature-inspired leadership is and are invited to try out different exercises that open up new ways of understanding how nature can inspire us - both in our personal and relational lives. When we allow nature to become a source for the way we live, lead and engage in relationships, it gradually becomes a close friend and guide, awakening our sense of connectedness with — and respect for — all living beings.

Elisabeth Heilmann Blind, GL (skuespiller og maskedanser): Grønlandsk Maskedans: Naturen i dig - Din livskraft

Maskedans er den ældst kendte dramatiske udtryksform i inuitkulturen. Traditionen, der sandsynligvis har eksisteret i 3 - 4000 år, har i dagens maskedansform fortrinsvis sin oprindelse i gamle mimiske lege fra Østgrønland. I maskedansen bestræber sig danseren på at eliminere sit eget selv og nå en tilstand af væren, hvor grænserne mellem menneske – dyr - ånd, kvindeligt og mandligt er brudt. Dansen er i vid udstrækning forbundet med de menneskelige behov. Det vil sige de primitive instinkter, som selv nutidens højteknologiske mennesker besidder.

Som en del af at kunne aflæse og genvinde den tætte og intime kontakt med naturen for ” det moderne menneske ”, er det en fordel at vende blikket indad først. Vi besidder bevidst og ubevidst det der skal til for overlevelse i og med naturen. Trods det ligger meget af vores fysiske og mentale færdigheder oftest i dvale på grund af vores nuværende livstil, specielt i den vestlige verden. Hvad skal der til for at mennesket igen kan føle sig i harmoni med altet og den klode vi tilsammen lever i, på godt og på ondt ?

Vanessa Buth, DK (Democracy Labs): Al-Tings stemmer – Hvordan kan naturens behov blive integreret i demokratiske processer?

I denne workshop samskaber vi vores visioner for demokratiske processer, der tager hensyn til naturens behov. Ved hjælp af participatorisk design udvikler vi forskellige måder at repræsentere eller inddrage naturen i deltagelsesprocesser. Hvordan ville en borgerforsamling se ud, hvis naturens interesser var repræsenteret? Hvilke andre måder kan vi forestille os, hvorpå naturen kan deltage? Utopiske drømme er velkomne.

The Nalluvia Collective, DK (Collaborative Roleplaying): Exploring More-than-Human Futures Through Collaborative Roleplay

In this collaborative storytelling workshop, participants step into the roles of shapeshifters navigating ecological and social tensions through a game set in the fictional world of Nalluvia. Together, we explore what happens when humans understand themselves not as separate from nature, but as part of a living web of relationships. No prior role-playing experience is needed. The workshop focuses on imagination, dialogue, and collaborative exploration rather than performance or acting.

Trine Rytter Andersen, DK (kunstner og kurator)

Jesper Saxgren, DK (EarthWays): Council of All Beings – en biokratisk dialogmetode

Alt for længe har mennesker truffet beslutninger om jord, vand, skove og liv uden at spørge dem, som faktisk lever dér. Floderne har ikke haft sæder ved bordet. Skovene har ikke haft stemmer i parlamenterne. Jordens levende væv er blevet behandlet som ejendom, ressource og råmateriale — snarere end som levende fællesskaber, vi selv er en del af. Men måske er tiden kommet til at huske noget andet. Måske må demokratiet igen finde jordforbindelse. Det betyder råd og forsamlinger, hvor mennesker ikke kun repræsenterer egne interesser, men også lytter til og taler på vegne af skove, floder, jorde, dyr og kommende generationer. Vi vil i denne workshop afprøve et ’Council of All Beings’ som en metode til at undersøge og afprøve, hvordan vi kan åbne for en opmærksomhed, der gør det muligt for os at sanse, lytte og måske forstå naturens sprog samt opøve vores evne til at identificere os med ’the other beings’. At sætte os i andre mere-end-menneskelige væseners sted og udtrykke forskellige perspektiver og bekymringer fra en ikke-antropocentrisk position.