International Symposium of the Central European Network for Sonic Ecologies
14 Octobre 2026 - 18 Octobre 2026
Imagine a world where ecosystems aren’t just resources to be managed but beings to be heard. From Ecuador’s Constitution to New Zealand’s Whanganui River, from Bolivia’s Law of the Rights of Mother Earth to Spain’s Mar Menor, a legal revolution is underway. Yet Europe remains cautious, bound by regulation rather than rights.
The symposium Beyond Listening #3 is a transdisciplinary initiative focusing on listening as an epistemological, creative and political act with a particular focus on “Trans-Baltic territory”. As the previous CENSE symposia, the event aims to bring together art practitioners, researchers, activists, civic institutions and collectives engaged and interested in the act of listening as a form of agency capable to address and improve the current state of the world. We aim to reawaken our ability to listen and to find a thoughtful, sensitive place for ourselves. We ask how we might be human in a different way, by entering into a relationship with place, nature, the cycle of life, and non-human beings.
Some of the most powerful movements for Rights of Nature (RoN) emerge not just in courts but also through art, collective action and imagination. They gain traction when we begin to hear the non-human world asking for and demanding recognition. With this symposium, we want to explore what debates, attempts, and discussions regarding RoN are currently taking place in the region, and how artists in dialog with scientists, policy makers and local communities can help bring them to the fore.
How can diverse practices concerned with listening to the more-than-human world inform the idea of nature having rights equal to those of humans?
How can they help bring these issues onto the agenda, effectively impacting policies and the mindsets of citizens, community leaders, and decision-makers?
How might rethinking our relationship to more-than-human worlds redefine the role of humans within the mesh of equally relevant planetary ecosystems?
We do not take the concept of RoN for granted or approach it uncritically, and we hope to trigger conversations on the very definition of “Nature” which requires a certain degree of delineation, limitation, and often problematic exclusion. Therefore, by focusing on the disruptive and critical potential of the arts, we seek alternative approaches to the issues that RoN activists are attempting to raise. What visions of coexistence—ethically and legally sound—between human and non-human beings can sound-driven art and design practices point us toward?
In response to these thematic areas, please submit an abstract (max. 400 words) and short biography (up to 250 words) in one PDF.
Send your proposal to:
Deadline — May 31, 2026
The results of the call will be published by mid-June.
Each submission will be evaluated by at least 3 independent reviewers. Reviews are conducted on the basis of technical quality, originality, significance, clarity, and relevance to the conference scope. (Reviewers: Jacek Smolicki, Joanna Wyrwa, Olgierd Zbygorski, Maja Bjelica, Marcus Zagorski, Anna Kvíčalová, Lukasz Jastrubczak).
We welcome contributions that can be presented indoors, at the Baltic Sea Cultural Center (October 15-16) and outdoors, during a performative walking seminar taking place along the coastline connecting Gdańsk and Gdynia (October 17).
Formats of interest:
— Performative lectures
— Where presentation becomes experience
— Short workshops and engaging performances
— Innovative formats
— Hybrid, participatory, unexpected, interactive posters
— Short sound performances and concerts
— Contributions integrated into the walk along the Baltic Sea
(This durational walk, lasting approximately six hours, is intended to create a peripatetic space for multidisciplinary and multimodal discussion on the rights of the Baltic Sea and its diverse ecosystems. During the walk, we will make several stops to engage in such exchanges and to share them with the public, as well as with invited actors and institutions joining us at different stages).
Presentations will be recorded and/or transmitted. A selection of texts presented at the symposium will be published in an online pamphlet summarizing the event.
We are working on securing grants for participants from the region and CENSE members who may not be able to cover their travel and accommodation costs. More information on this will follow.
