Conference: Humans and the Rhine: What Does the Future Hold?

Geographer Laurent Schmitt, co-author of the book Rhin vivant, histoire du fleuve, des poissons et des hommes, published by La Nuée Bleue in 2022, invites us to reflect on this river, which is our ‘backbone’ and our shared heritage. Yet, over the last two centuries of artificialisation, we have forgotten that we are ‘its children’. How is our destiny linked to that of the river? How does the way we treat it reflect
our world view? When and why, at some point in history, did the relationship between humans and the Rhine shift from organic coexistence to overwhelming technical domination?
The canalised Rhine is in fact the symbol of an industrial era that saw nature as a mere resource to be exploited. However, by irrevocably altering the functioning of the river, we have made ourselves vulnerable: increased flooding downstream, groundwater pollution, a drastic decline in exceptional biodiversity and deterioration of the living environment. How, then, can we teach citizens to see the Rhine as a living organism again, and what ecological restoration solutions can we propose to build a new balance between humans and water that also allows for greater resilience to climate change? What will the Rhine, our common heritage, look like in fifty years and beyond? Will it still be the link that binds Europe together? These are just some of the key questions that will be addressed during this conference, which will be followed by a debate.

Laurent Schmitt is a professor at the University of Strasbourg, a geographer specialising in river geomorphology applied to environmental management, and former vice-president of sustainable development and social responsibility at Unistra. He co-authored the book Rhin vivant with Roland Carbiener, founder of Alsace Nature and honorary professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Strasbourg.