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It is organized by the Centre for Franco-German Relations at Saarland University and the Institut d’Etudes Françaises, in collaboration with their French partners – the Goethe-Institut Nancy and Université de Lorraine – and the Käte Hamburger Kolleg CURE.
The following text has been machine translated from the German with no human editing.
The upcoming event, entitled “Les voix des fleuves | Rivers with Voices”, focuses on the inherent rights of nature, which are gaining increasing international significance in the face of global ecological crises. Under the concept of river rights, water bodies are no longer viewed merely as resources or objects of use, but as legal entities that can “raise their voices” and assert their rights in court: can the recognition of inherent rights help protect our natural world for future generations?
Against this backdrop, two renowned experts will discuss the recognition of rivers as legal persons: the lawyer Dr Jula Zenetti (LL.M.), an expert in the rights of nature, environmental constitutional law, water law and sustainable regional development, and a postdoctoral researcher at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Leipzig), and the philosopher and writer Dr Camille de Toledo, co-founder of the International of Rivers and author of “L’internationale des rivières” (2026). He will be a guest artist in residence at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg CURE in Saarbrücken from May to July 2026.
The event will be held in French and German. Please register by email: culture(at)ief-saarbruecken.eu
The Tête-à-tête events bring together two speakers from Germany and France to discuss a topic. The event takes place twice a year, alternating between Nancy and Saarbrücken.
Venue: Villa Europa, Kohlweg 7, 66123 Saarbrücken
Date: 18 June 2026, 6.30 pm
Contact:
Dr Judith Lamberty
Managing Director
Centre for Franco-German Relations – Pôle France at Saarland University
Email: judith.lamberty@uni-saarland.de
https://www.uni-saarland.de/einrichtung/frz/