What’s Our Water Future?
Water is perhaps the most unifying, vulnerable, international, and personal of all elements. Yet water is under increasing pressure, and the global water cycle is out of balance. How do we restore that balance? And how can science contribute to the local and global challenges of water pollution, water scarcity, and water security?
Prior to Robert Macfarlane’s BBC Reith Lecture (“Water: The Geography of Hope”), this afternoon is centered around the work of scientists studying water today: the questions that drive their research, the challenges they face, and the possibilities they see for the future. Contributors will share their concerns, ideas, and ambitions to build new partnerships around water.
Water is a global common good, and its future is a shared responsibility. This afternoon is an invitation to put water higher on the agenda: for the city, for the Netherlands, for Europe, and for the world. It is an opportunity to bring different perspectives into the same room, ask difficult questions, and begin conversations that can lead to new research and new partnerships.
Speakers and performers will engage in short academic talks, music, visual storytelling, and conversation about the ways we understand, use, govern, and live with water. The contributions will be woven together with visuals and live musical interventions by composer and cellist Saartje van Camp and moderator Tracy Metz.
Programme:
A Bird’s eye perspective on the North Sea – Judy Shamoun-Baranes
Sharing responsibility for international rivers – Andre Nollkaemper
Who owns our water? Global and just water futures – Joyeeta Gupta
Water Futures Past – Peter van Dam
Rights of Water – Laura Burgers
The Unknown Ocean. How do we protect the deep sea we barely understand? – Jasper de Goeij
Panel: A Water Futures agenda. Together we prioritise next steps for water. Led by Tracy Metz.
Please note: this programme will take place in the Aula (Oude Lutherse Kerk) from 14:00 until 16:00. The doors open at 13:30.
Speakers
Judy Shamoun-Baranes is Professor of Animal Movement Ecology at the University of Amsterdam. She pioneers the use of radar, GPS tracking and predictive modelling to understand bird migration. Her research translates ecology into action, including forecasting mass migration to enable temporary offshore wind-turbine shutdowns, combining renewable energy development with biodiversity protection.
André Nollkaemper is Scientific Director of SEVEN – Climate Institute and University Professor of International Law and Sustainability at the University of Amsterdam. He studies international law’s role in the climate transition, including shared responsibility for environmental harm. He is a Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Joyeeta Gupta is full professor of environment and development in the global south at the University of Amsterdam and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. She won the 2023 Spinoza Prize (highest academic prize in the Netherlands) and the 2025 Amsterdam Impact prize. She has been appointed by the UN Secretary General as co-chair of the Ten High-Level Representatives of Civil Society, Private Sector and Scientific Community to Promote STI (2024-2026). She was c-chair of the Earth Commission (2019-2024) and Commissioner in the Global Commission on the Economics of Water.
Laura Burgers is an assistant professor at the Amsterdam Centre for Transformative private law (ACT) of the University of Amsterdam. Her expertise is climate law, climate litigation and rights of nature.
Peter van Dam is Professor of Dutch History at the University of Amsterdam, studying how people try to change their relationships with each other and the environment, focusing on food, water, and energy. He coordinates the Environment & Society Network for Environmental Humanities and co-founded SEVEN, UvA’s climate institute.
Jasper de Goeij is associate professor of Marine Benthic Ecology, and he leads the Freshwater and Marine Ecology department at the University of Amsterdam. His groundbreaking discovery of the “Sponge Loop” revealed how sponges are biological engines that provide life in the ocean. His research inspires innovative approaches to marine conservation, blue biotechnology and nature-based solutions for healthier oceans.
Tracy Metz (moderator) is a Dutch-American journalist, author, presenter and water podcast maker. Co-author of Sweet & Salt: Water and the Dutch, she connects climate, landscapes and society. Through her podcasts, she brings water stories to life. As our moderator, she brings curiosity, insight and energy to exploring our shared future. You can listen to the Waterproof podcast ‘Robert MacFarlane on Nature’s Legal Personhood’ here or here.
Visual Note Taker
Silvia Celiberti is an Amsterdam-based visual artist and concept-driven editorial illustrator, trained in Barcelona and New York. She is Co-founder of the multidisciplinary studio Bomburo. Her work questions stereotypes, challenges social norms and strives for fair representation.
Musical guest
Saartje Van Camp is a Belgian cellist, composer, singer, and theatre maker based in Amsterdam. Known for her longstanding collaboration with Spinvis, she blends classical and pop music, poetry and experimental sounds. Her affinity with water inspires musical landscapes, exploring the fluidity, rhythms and emotional depths of our natural world.
