Upholding the rights of river persons: enforcement or relational repair?
Lecture by Blue Community Ambassador Erin O’Donnell at the Swiss Blue University of Zurich.
River rights is now a transnational movement, with over 100 examples of rivers around the world gaining the legal status of persons, subjects, or living entities. The question of whether rivers should have rights is beginning to give way to the question of what happens when they do.
In this lecture, Dr. Erin O’Donnell examines how these new legal rights can be enforced through three key perspectives:
First, it needs to be clear what rights rivers actually have, which do not always include the right to go to court, or rights to water flowing between their banks.
Second, there are many mechanisms for enforcement, ranging from the highly adversarial lawsuit through to broader accountability processes.
Third, the limitations of enforcement must be considered, as regulatory measures alone often fail to restore river ecosystems or societal connections.
The lecture explores how moving beyond traditional legal frameworks offers a unique opportunity for creative law and policy reform to transform our relationship with the natural world.
Upholding the rights of river persons
Location: Kulturpark Zürich, Pfingstweidstrasse 16
Date: 17. June 2026
Time: 18:00-19:00
