I Am the River, The River Is Me Screening Sparks Debate on Rights for the River Kent

The Brewery arts Kendal, recently hosted a screening of ‘I am the River, the River is Me’ which focusses on the Whanganui river in New Zealand, and was the first river in the world to be given legal status in its own right.  The philosophy underpinning the establishment of rights for a river is that nature possesses fundamental rights because of its intrinsic value and not simply for the value it provides to humans as a resource to be used.

Following the screening attended by approximately 60 people, CRKC ran a Question-and-Answer session with a view to starting a conversation locally about whether we should aim to establish a Charter for our own river Kent and its tributaries along the lines of Charters being adopted by Councils elsewhere in this country.