As part of Chtiiing! 2026 - Nantes’ Days of Creativity, the Nantes Institute for Advanced Study is presenting Future Law, the Loire as a Legal Subject?, a participatory workshop organised as part of the Friday morning workshops on May 29. A multidisciplinary festival dedicated to the intersections of creation, research, innovation and collective experimentation, Chtiiing! brings together artists, researchers, students and cultural actors each year to explore new ways of thinking and creating together.
Come and take part in the workshop!
9:00–11:30 a.m.
Halles 1&2 (pôle économique de la Samoa), Allée Frida Kahlo, Nantes, France
Registration required: https://www.billetweb.fr/chtiiing-2026
Select “Workshops Pass” / next / “Future Law”
During a “Future Law” workshop, participants are invited to act as a constituent force and take part in a simulated parliamentary debate. Together, they discuss the different components of a “law to come” — that is, a law grounded in the vision of a world in which natural entities are recognised as legal subjects.
Since 2019, engaged citizens across the Loire watershed have been asking the question: “What if the Loire had rights?” From this initial reflection on the rights of nature emerged a series of citizen-led legislative proposals, developed through a long collaborative process involving researchers from many disciplines (earth sciences, hydrology, history, law, philosophy), activists committed to the recognition of the rights of nature, and a citizens’ council known as the “Council of Witnesses” — twelve residents from the Nantes area who took part in the drafting process.
To share, debate and amend these proposals, the Future Law workshop invites participants, through a card-based role-playing format, to become lawmakers and recreate a parliamentary debate. Together, they are encouraged to discuss the different elements of a vision of the world in which natural entities are recognised as legal subjects.
