🇬🇧 ENGLISH-FRIENDLY
This session will be held in English if any participant does not speak Swedish.
The hidden world beneath the surface
We walk beside rivers every day.
But how often do we stop to wonder who else lives there?
This intimate workshop invites you to slow down, become curious, and discover an entire hidden world that most of us never notice.
Together with Theo from Rewilding Sweden, we'll begin gathered around a small aquarium, where you'll get an introduction to some of the fascinating freshwater creatures that inhabit the Ume River. Then it's time to head down to the water.
Using transparent buckets and simple sampling tools, you'll collect your own small piece of the river and search for the tiny animals living beneath the surface. We'll gather again to observe them up close, learn about their extraordinary lives, and explore how every species is part of a much larger web of relationships.
It's easy to think of nature as something "out there."
But perhaps the river isn't separate from us at all.
Perhaps meeting the creatures we're connected to is also a way of meeting the present moment.
A chance to experience the quiet joy of paying close attention.
A chance to leave with a completely different relationship to the river you've been walking beside all along.
Because once you've seen who lives there…
it's difficult to ever look at a river in quite the same way again.
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• A small, exclusive workshop with very limited places
• Introduction around a shared aquarium
• Collecting river water in transparent buckets
• Finding and observing living freshwater creatures
• Learn how these species are connected within the river ecosystem
• Plenty of time for curiosity, questions and shared discoveries
No previous knowledge is needed – only curiosity.
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If you've ever wondered what we're missing when we rush through life...
If you enjoy slowing down, paying attention, and experiencing the world with fresh eyes...
If you're curious about nature – not as something separate from us, but as something we're part of...
...then yes.
No previous knowledge is needed. Just curiosity and a willingness to explore.
Meet your guide
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Theo Nilsson-Häll is part of Rewilding Sweden , a non-profit organisation working to restore biodiversity while helping people reconnect with the living landscapes around them.
Through ecological restoration, education and immersive nature experiences, they create opportunities to experience ourselves as part of the wider web of life – not separate from it.
Venue ↓
Outdoors · By the Ume River
This workshop takes place outdoors along the banks of the Ume River. We’ll meet by the floating sauna at Hotel Botnia and walk together to the workshop site by the river.
Good to know
• Dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes suitable for the riverbank.
• Plan your festival weekend so you have time to arrive, settle in and move between venues without rushing. Read more: Questions & Answers
• Avoid booking sessions that overlap or run back-to-back. Give yourself some space simply to be – not only to do.
