Indigenous epistemologies have long been at the centre of claiming representation and stewardship for the natural world, pointing to traditions within these diverse communities to listen to, and speak with, the earth itself. In recent years, this has found articulation within modern legal frameworks—the rights of nature have become a reality since they were proclaimed in the Constitution of Ecuador in 2008. Learning from these developments, a popular legislative initiative in Spain (Iniciativa Legislativa Popular, ILP Mar Menor), achieved the promulgation of the first legislation in Europe to recognize the rights of nature with the law 19/2022, which grants legal personality to the Mar Menor lagoon in Spain. Today there are more than 350 legal texts across the world that recognize rights to natural entities such as rivers, mountains, lakes, or forests in a profound epistemological and legal shift. These different positions have opened a process to found an ‘Earth Assembly’ at the United Nations General Assembly, among custodians, activists, scholars, and a diverse range of organizations and entities.

The Earth Assembly seeks to discuss the possibility of a recurring forum at the United Nations—with a planetary scope—to work on a future general declaration of the rights of nature. Transitioning from an anthropocentric to an Earth-centred paradigm, the aim of the Earth Assembly is to continue to reinforce multilateralism through the discussion of alternative holistic approaches based on a range of diverse perspectives. It is hoped this endeavour would contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other future initiatives.

Towards an Earth Assembly emerged as a series of encounters among activists and scholars facing the postponement of the Earth Assembly at the UN, which was to have been held on 22 April 2024, according to the UN resolution 77/169. Through panels and conversations, experts, activists, artists, and custodians of nature meet in these series of encounters to study the implementation of the rights of nature as part of the legal infrastructure of different countries, paving the way for the long-awaited celebration of the Earth Assembly at the United Nations.

The encounter at HKW is hosted in the frame of the A Participatory Planet series. It thus inserts itself into an ongoing engagement with how to relate to the planet in more egalitarian and sustainable ways, seeking paths towards environmental justice. In this series, Teresa Vicente, who lead the Iniciativa Legislativa Popular (ILP) that gave legal personality to the Mar Menor in Murcia, is joined in conversation by Elizabeth Gallón Dostre and Alexander Rodriguez Mena, and Erena Rangimarie Omaki Ransfield Rhöse and Lester Ransfield, picking up on ongoing debates to discuss a non-consumptive, non-extractivist relation to the planet and its pedagogies. How can nature teach us about its own needs and necessities?

The event is co-facilitated by Vicente and as part of the film project Aquel Verano del 22, which traces the connections between mining, construction, and agroindustry. These pollutants have led to the ecological degradation of the Mar Menor and the Campo de Cartagena, in the region of Murcia, South East Spain. The film takes as its departure point the summer 2022 arrival of archaeologist Fátima  from Morocco to study the Cartagena countryside, where the prevailing socio-economic model has devastated the territory. 

Please be aware if you attend the event you accept that you might appear in the film.

Aquel Verano del 22 is directed by Lorenzo Sandoval, produced by Lucia Sapelli, with a script by Dami Sainz Edwards together with Sandoval, in dialogue with Zineb Achoubie, who plays the role of Fátima in the film. Soundscapes by Pedro André. 


The event is supported by the Spanish Embassy in Berlin.