In the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, a set of common principles have been published to empower decision-makers, actors and grassroots activists in the international Swimmable Cities movement. These principles have already been adopted by a diverse group of founding Signatories, representing 30 cities and 16 countries around the world. 

Facilitated by the Swimmable Cities steering group, comprising leaders from Australia, Europe and the UK; the purpose of the Swimmable Cities Charter is recognising the interconnections between the Rights of Nature and the Right to Swim (human rights). 

Positive ripple effects are already being seen with municipalities like the City of Rotterdam (Netherlands) aligning the Charter to their urban waterfront redevelopments, City of Yarra (Melbourne) linking the Charter to community climate action, and not to mention +Pool (New York) harnessing the Charter in their water policy leadership. 

The diversity of signatories shows the power of grassroots movements to bring people together around a simple but visionary goal. This includes a range of stakeholders, including local municipalities, government agencies, civil society organisations, community groups, private enterprises, universities and cultural institutions. 

Despite the urban swimming movement currently being dominated by Global North and Euro-centric worldviews, the Charter is hoped to spark new intersectional conversations and meaningful action that creates greater diversity and representation. An example of the embracing Indigenous Peoples’ rich ecological knowledge is the Charter’s inclusion of ‘Mother Earth’, mirroring the Kunming-Montreal UN Global Biodiversity Framework.

The Charter builds upon recommendations within the Swimmable Cities Handbook (2023), which was published by Melbourne-based consultancy Regeneration Projects as part of their role as an Actor in the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. 

Leaders within the Swimmable Cities movement, such as the members of the Pan European Urban Bathing Network (self-proclaimed ‘water nerds’), are showing the world that building climate resilience and achieving Nature Positive goals requires a ‘whole of society’ approach, well beyond the traditional silos of the conservation sector.

Swimmable Cities is now focused on celebrating river swimming during the Paris Olympics, and planning an international Summit in Paris during the northern Spring, 2025.

Aspiring signatories can express interest at the alliance’s website: swimmablecities.org.

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, led by the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its partners, covers terrestrial as well as coastal and marine ecosystems. As a global call to action, it will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration. Find out how you can contribute to the UN Decade. Follow #GenerationRestoration.