Wednesday February 19, Melbourne, Australia - Swimmable Cities - an alliance of 100 organisations across 59 cities and 22 countries – today announced that it is partnering with the City of Rotterdam (Netherlands) for its inaugural Summit on June 22-24 2025.
The Swimmable Cities Summit will be the first of its kind in the world at this scale, gathering participants such as municipalities, government agencies, community groups and cultural institutions to focus on the policy and practical steps towards cities enabling urban swimming.
Building on the milestone of Olympic athletes swimming in the River Seine in 2024, the aim of the three-day event is to encourage cities to sign up to its charter by 2030. So far municipalities and government organisations in the cities of Annapolis (US), Melbourne (AUS), Rotterdam (NL), Sydney (AUS) and Vienna (AUS) have joined the alliance, with more expected to sign up in the lead-in to the event.
At least 100 experts, actors, activists and decision-makers from the international urban swimming movement are expected to participate in the summit, with case studies as to the ways in which cities and communities are connecting with waterfronts. To mark World Bathing Day (June 22) a special ‘Swim for Peace’ will take place in the Rijnhaven, Rotterdam’s newest public swimming place.
Hot topics are set to include the Right to Swim (the first principle of the Swimmable Cities Charter), as well as Nature Rights, water monitoring technology, policy reform, public-private investment, sustainable urbanism and water literacy.
By facilitating knowledge sharing between international cities and disciplines, the Summit seeks to support enabling conditions for a new wave of urban waterway regeneration. Since launching Swimmable Cities in July 2024, Co-Founders Matt Sykes (Melbourne), Ana Mumladze-Detering (Vienna), Chris Romer-Lee (London), Sibylle Van Der Walt (Metz), Tim Edler (Berlin) and Jerome Castex (Marseille), have seen how rewarding pioneers, tackling misconceptions and more fairly distributing best practices, gives decision-makers confidence and saves money in a resource-scarce global economy.
The Swimmable Cities Summit is aligned to the 2021-2030 UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Early Bird registrations are now open.
More info on the Event Page – HERE
Media Kit (inc. photos) - HERE
Contact: Matt Sykes, SC Convenor, [email protected] , +61448 920 123