CONFERENCE
Their conversation shows that the presence of beavers is not merely a matter of nature conservation or resource management. It also reveals different ideas about what a river should look like, what kinds of changes people are willing to accept, and how our relationships with ever changing waterscapes are formed.
During the programme, Anita also introduced the Water Cultures research project at the University of Latvia, which explores relationships between people and waters in Latvia. The project examines how historically inherited ideas, local experiences, everyday practices, and material transformations shape the ways people relate to rivers, lakes, and other waters, as well as how these relationships evolve over time. The example of beavers vividly illustrates that waters are not only physical environments but also cultural spaces where different values, interests, and understandings of human and nature coexistence come together.
