Action Communities

The swimmable river is the phase before reaching the drinkable river. We outlined this in this article which we wrote a few years ago. Thanks to the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, the swimmable Seine got worldwide attention and our collective awareness of the importance of water was raised. Even though we are aware that the water is not perfectly swimmable yet, it was powerful to see how Paris has taken care of the Seine in preparation for the Olympics. We are looking forward to the steps the river Seine with Paris are going to take in the coming years in the direction of making the Seine swimmable for all again. Sunday 8 September, the annual Amsterdam City Swim takes place again. Stemming from this city swim and inspired by our work with drinkable rivers, the citizen initiative Swimmable Rivers was launched last year. Another initiative that is very much in line with this is Swimmable Cities. Of course, Drinkable Rivers has signed the charter.

On Saturday October 19 2019, eleven mayors from France, Belgium and the Netherlands launched “Mayors for a Drinkable Meuse” in Charleville-Mézières, France. This mayor network learns and works towards Drinkable Rivers. The mayors have signed a declaration and the municipalities have agreed to work together to improve the water quality of the Meuse with the common long term vision of a Drinkable Meuse.

All municipalities, regions and water authorities in the Meuse watershed are invited to join. For more information, please visit the dedicated website or get in touch with us.

• Listen to the interview on Dutch radio 1 with Li An and mayor Wim Hillenaar, here.
• Listen to Boris Ravignon’s interview (french), here.

In the summer of 2021 we walked from the source of the IJssel to its mouth in the IJsselmeer. 200 kilometers in ten days. Along the way people signed our manifesto to work towards a Drinkable IJssel in 30 years time. This aim is supported by twenty organisations in the IJssel watershed, ranging from municipalities, provinces, regional and national water authorities, drinking water producers, farmers and cultural organisations.

For more information please visit the dedicated page or get in touch with Wim van Vilsteren at Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe.

We are a community of young people with a passion for water. Some of us are young professionals, some are students, and some of us just have a big heart for healthy rivers. We spread the story about drinkable rivers to amplify the voice of the river – together with Li An. We organise different activities for a wide audience and involved parties. We connect with current events to create awareness about water quality, working towards our dream that one day we can take a sip from our local river.

For more information please visit the dedicated page or get in touch with us.