Commoning water and integrating nonhuman entities into water governance in Europe

This paper examines a paradigm shift that aims to include nonhuman entities (NHEs) in the decision-making processes in water governance. Drawing on multidisciplinary insights, it analyzes how scholars reconceptualize and actors experiment water as a common good, both reflecting with different views on the transformation of the relationship between human and its environment and multispecies. This paper highlights the dominance of anthropocentric water management, identifies the global Rights of Nature movement as a legal avenue for recognizing aquatic NHEs, analyzes the challenges of representing and integrating their needs into governance frameworks, and proposes pathways toward more inclusive socio-ecological policy. By combining theoretical perspectives with practical considerations in Europe, it outlines a research agenda to address the epistemological, ethical, and operational dimensions of extending water governance models beyond human-centered approaches.