City, nature and feminist resistance: Reimagining rivers and wetlands in Poland

Abstract Rivers and wetlands are vital ecosystems, sustaining biodiversity and serving as cultural spaces for local communities. In Poland, they face serious threats from industry, urbanization and governance prioritizing profit over environmental protection. Historically, such pressures spurred grassroots movements advocating for protecting these spaces. This study examines feminist geography and ecofeminist aspects of contemporary groups defending water ecosystems, a perspective rarely addressed in Central and Eastern Europe. Focusing on case studies of the Vistula, Oder and Wilga rivers, as well as the Wawer Bend wetlands, with campaigns in Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław, the research employs interviews with female activists, local media analysis and field observations. The findings show that activists use embodied practices to reconnect communities with threatened ecosystems, turning rivers and wetlands into spaces of care, protest and learning. Their actions challenge the separation of “city” and “nature,” contest technocratic governance and foreground local knowledge and experiences as essential for environmental protection.