What is it about?

With the project ‘Guardians of the Elbe valley’, I aim to tell the story of the Elbe and her guardians through an animist lens, understanding the river and her ecosystems as interconnected beings in a living system in which humans have a responsibility of care. I am going to do this by biking the long-distance cycle route along the river, the Elberadweg, and collecting stories from people living along the river, whose lives are shaped by her currents.

Following the rhythm of the river, I will visit places and projects on my route where people are taking up the role of Guardians of the Earth. These are places where people are rebuilding relationships of care and reciprocity with the ecosystems they are part of, such as self-sufficient communities, community-supported farms or innovative forestry projects. By telling the river’s story through this lens, I expect to show that the foundations of a sustainable future are already being practiced in the present and can be woven together into a relational vision of the future.

Landscape along the Elbe

What is the goal?

Through the production of three different outputs, I intend to bring this vision for the future and the work of the ‘guardians of the Elbe’ to a broader public. The first output is a book in which the Elbe tells her own story, highlighting the changing relationship between the river and humans throughout history. It will explore what this changing relationship might mean for the future. Secondly, a podcast series will give the guardians a platform to talk about their relationship to the river and how this has changed their perspective on life. Lastly, a travelling exhibition will bring the results of the project back to the communities along the Elbe’s river banks. This will have a measurable impact through an increased awareness of the concept of ‘guardians of the earth’, new connections between the different guardians and an increased visibility for the featured projects within their local communities. In this way, the project will build new networks along the river.

A 'Rundling' village in the Wendland region

Who am I?

My name is Joost Herrebout. I am committed to unveiling possible futures by connecting the stories of modernity and the animist world. I believe that the seeds for a flourishing and sustainable society are already sown in the present. This can be seen in the work of many people who recover the relationship between humans and the ecosystems we inhabit. By collecting their personal stories and weaving them into a bigger story, my work reveals alternative ways of relating to the world, allowing those seeds to germinate into networks of care and connection.

Inspired by the works of Robert Macfarlane, Anna Tsing or Richard Powers, I aim to give the other-than-human world a voice which can tell this bigger story. Rivers, forests or mountains all provide a sense of time different from the human perspective. They have witnessed societies being born, growing, dying off and being composted into whatever came next. I believe that recovering this rhythm in the human imagination can bring back a sense of impermanence, care and reciprocity among humanity.

With a background in architecture, I have always been interested in the way our environment influences human behaviour, relationships and quality of life. An urgent curiosity about the power of community and incremental building has guided me ever since. In my professional life as an urban planner, I was confronted with the gap between planned environments and lived realities. I increasingly noticed I was mainly valued for my analytical skills, geographic mapping and long-term visions rather than my focus on participation and the relation between people and their environment. This sparked interest in the question of who gets to shape these places and whose knowledge is valued in the process.

Following this intuition, I searched for a more grounded relationship with place and the more-than-human world. I stepped away from conventional urban planning practice and explored communities experimenting with different ways of living through non-profit work, travelling and volunteering on farms. This experience led me to the central question of ‘Guardians of the Elbe Valley’: how can we rebuild relationships of care and reciprocity with the ecosystems that sustain us?

The Elberadweg cycle path

What do I need support for?