Giving a voice to the voiceless is a well-intentioned but sometimes patronising phrase. After all, most people have a voice of some kind and it’s often the systems of power and privilege that stop them from being heard.
But what about our non-human neighbours – the wildlife, rivers, coastlines, and forests that share this planet with us?
When shaping policy on issues like urban development and the climate, the needs of our natural environment are critical. And yet it is up to humans to make the decisions that determine whether our environment has a fighting chance against climate collapse.
That’s why a growing number of local authorities and organisations are considering the voices of other species when making policy decisions. They call this the “more than human” perspective.
The UK’s steps toward a more-than-human approach
Across the UK, local councils, charities, and grassroots groups are experimenting with ways to bring nature’s voice into policy-making:
- The People’s Assembly for Nature, convened in 2023 by WWF, the RSPB and the National Trust, brought together 100 people from across the country to create the People’s Plan for Nature. This landmark set of recommendations included restoring rivers, rewilding urban green spaces, and prioritising biodiversity in farming – recognising that a healthy environment underpins human wellbeing.
- In Oxford, the Nature Conversations Citizens’ Jury brought together residents in early 2025 to deliberate on the city’s relationship with nature. Participants prioritised water quality, wildlife corridors, and pollinator habitats, treating nature as a stakeholder in urban development.
- The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) recently ran Animal Futures: the Big Conversation, a public engagement project on their Go Vocal-powered platform to canvas opinions on the future needs of pets, farmed animals and those in the wild, considering the roles of technology and climate change.
Participants raised issues like whether animals should be used in sport, and whether farming is the best use of land, as well as coming up with paths forward. In a discussion about the use of new technology for the protection of animals, lab-grown meat was suggested as an alternative to farming.
This input will enable the UK’s largest animal welfare charity to better advocate for our furry neighbours at a political level. Having collected hundreds of online responses, the project will soon move to a citizens’ assembly, for a more in-depth, nuanced conversation on the future of the UK’s animals.
These examples show that while the UK is taking steps to integrate nature’s needs into decision-making, there’s still room for more creative approaches to truly centre non-human perspectives.
Learning from the city of Mechelen, Belgium
A particularly inspiring example of this creativity comes from Mechelen, Belgium, where the city hosted a citizens’ assembly to reconnect residents with the River Dyle (Dijle).
After an initial round of deliberation, participants were each invited to represent a non-human species. They were assigned a persona (a specific plant, bird, or animal) and taken on a boat tour along the river, to help get into the head of their new more-than-human identity.
The assembly resulted in the development of 15 principles to ensure that all of Mechelen’s inhabitants – human and non-human – can enjoy a positive relationship with the river at the heart of their city.
These included recommendations to rewild 30% of the river’s banks, plant strategically for maximum benefit to wildlife, measure water quality and make the river and surrounds waste-free, all primarily in service of its non-human inhabitants.
And this delightful activity isn't a one-off – it speaks to a growing movement for ecological democracy. In the UK, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, commonly known as the RSPCA, recently ran Animal Futures: the Big Conversation, a public engagement project to canvas opinions on the future needs of pets, farmed animals and those in the wild, considering the roles of technology and climate change.
Participants raised issues like whether animals should be used in sport, and whether farming is the best use of land, as well as coming up with paths forward. In a discussion about the use of new technology for the protection of animals, lab-grown meat was suggested as an alternative to farming.
This input will enable the UK’s largest animal welfare charity to better advocate for our furry neighbours at a political level. Having collected hundreds of online responses, the project will soon move to a citizens’ assembly, for a more in-depth, nuanced conversation on the future of the UK’s animals.
Legal personLegal personhood applied to natural entities
Elsewhere, the concept of legal personhood has been applied to a number of geographical features, giving direct legal representation to natural elements.
In 2017, New Zealand’s Whanganui River became the first natural entity granted legal personhood, after campaigning from local Māori.
The resulting legislation recognises the river as a “living and indivisible whole”, appointing guardians from both the Māori community and the government to defend its rights to flow freely, sustain biodiversity and remain free from pollution.
While the health of the river is still vulnerable to the effects of farming and forestry, the reconceptualising of the river as a living being, along with the heft of its legal status, has [helped add weight to its need for protection](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/30/saving-the-whanganui-can-personhood-rescue-a-river#:~:text=Despite the Whanganui's new legal,Mangatepopo Stream with a bathyscope.).
And these measures aren’t merely symbolic. In Spain, the legal personhood status of Mar Menor lagoon enabled lawsuits against agricultural polluters last year, resulting in €2 million in fines and subsequently attracting €20 million in recovery funding from the European Commission.
Toward a new democracy for all life
While the UK has yet to fully adopt the Mechelen model, initiatives like rights-of-river charters, citizens’ assemblies, and local rewilding efforts are helping to put nature’s needs on the political agenda.
But, of course, this still depends on human representation. We may never truly know what it’s like to be a tree, or a bird, or a river. But genuine attempts to put ourselves in their “shoes” already shifts the power dynamic when shaping policy decisions.
These examples challenge conventional ideas of citizenship and agency, offering new pathways for justice and ecological stewardship in the 21st century. As the climate emergency accelerates, civic innovations like these will prove vital to building democracies resilient enough to safeguard all life.
A version of this piece was originally published on the World Economic Forum’s website
