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De Ambassade is een autonome ruimte waar we middels educatie, onderzoek en kunst op zoek gaan naar nieuwe relaties tussen mens en veen.

Workshop Experimenting with ways of listening to peatlands

On 2 July 2026 we gathered in the Natura 2000 area Westbroekse Zodden, north of the town of Utrecht. 18 peat enthusiasts, including the Ear to the Earth Collective, eager to listen to the peat. We used a variety of microphones to hear the subtle sounds of soil, water, wind, plants and animals, and combined those with musical performances and our own whispers.

The sounds supported a slow dialogic interaction with ourselves, each other and the peatland landscape. It stimulated a child-like curiosity, an awareness of the wisdom of the body, a feeling of belonging. We under-stood the power of ecosystems, the intimacy of winds and rain, the different rhythms. A little, more-than-human community emerged from bouncy soils, a whispering poem so easily crushed by daily routines, an experience of attention – a waiting on ecological presence.

Did we embrace the peat in a soundscape ceremony – ambassadors of this soft and spongey dirt of plant remains, and its entangled dance of water, air, life – and man.

Antonio – Bobbi – Dries – Elize – Hanneke – Isabel – Julienne – Merel – Michelle – Paul – Petra – Porter – Ruth – Sanne – Sofie – Spijker – Tom – Tom

Funded by: Pathways to Sustainability Cross-Community Activities