In a world where pressures on rivers continue to grow, we worked with what we have and what we think can help make a change for the better: films that travel, books that invite exploration, events that bring people together, and public engagement that speaks up when frameworks and policies fail and veer towards further destruction. Marking its ninth consecutive year of sustained action, Balkan River Defence in 2025 continued its long-term commitment to protecting free-flowing rivers, working at the intersection of ecosystems, communities, cultural heritage, and political decisions to directly shape the future of rivers in the region.
Similar to the past three years, we devoted most of our attention to Slovenian rivers, since problems for them are unfortunatelly just piling up; plans for new big dams, insanely aggressive after-flood reconstruction, pollution, over-tourism, you name it.
That’s why we continued to use visual storytelling to give rivers a voice, and expose the often hidden schemes that damage them.
At the end of the year, our feature documentary One for the River: The Sava Story was made available online for free. Since the premiere, the film has been selected into 28 film festivals in 16 countries, won 13 international awards, was broadcast on Slovenian national television, and screened at 95 events across Slovenia, gathering more than 10,000 viewers. It has already allowed many to meet the Sava River and its landscapes without stepping into a kayak and now we are hoping for this number to become much bigger. Watch it on You Tube.
And our short films continued their journeys. Rods, Rolls & Reality on the Soča was recognised as Best Short Film at the Festival Gorniškega Filma in Ljubljana, the biggest film festival of this kind in the region, while our newest short film, Streamers, Steamers & Struggles on the Krka received the award for Best Fishing Film at the Paddling Film Festival and was officially selected for the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T) and has since been shown at over 300 events in 14 countries, bringing river stories and conservation reflection to audiences far beyond the Balkans.
Our paddling guidebook Soča from Source to Sea – Paddling Guidebook continues to generate interest. The book received an astonihing recognition when it was listed as a finalist at the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, placing it among the year’s most notable outdoor publications. In 2025 we held book presentations in Bovec, Tolmin, Kobarid and Ljubljana, introducing the book to paddlers, locals and river enthusiasts. Additional presentations took place in Italy, reflecting the Soča’s transboundary nature.
We also have a new film in the making and we are excited to share the news about it. After a very extensive research period followed by hundreds of days of filming we have just recently dove into the editing phase of what will become a tribute to Soča River and all the people that put their necks out in order to keep it wild. Heroes of the Soča will be a feature documentary sheding light on an unknown story of the Soča River and the historical (and not so historical) plans to dam it in it’s upper course. If there hadn’t been for a handfull of passionate people with courage and wisdom, the Soča would now be just a series of dead reservoirs from its source to the sea. It is a story of succes like no other in the Alps and we think it’s time to share it with the world – for the sake of thanking people that defended it and for the sake of inspiring the ones that will need to defend it in the future.
But we weren’t just behind the cameras and whiteboards…alongside creative projects, we watched closely as river governance and water policy evolved.
Early in the year a proposed Slovenian regulation on exceptions to environmental objectives in water management raised concerns about weakening protections under the guise of climate adaptation. Through public communication we highlighted the risks of such frameworks to rivers that are still flowing free. We kept on highlighting practices in the scope of after-flood reconstruction process that were evidently resulting in total river degradation, lower flood safety and insane profits for the private companies involved. In August we pointed out the shocking intervention into the river bed of the Soča River done by local concession holding river management company and the costs this created for the tax payers. Unfortunatelly our actions did not cause direct change, but at least people got to see what media did not show them. We will do our best to keep on informing you about what’s going on as one can’t try and solve the problem if they aren’t aware about the existence of a problem itself.
Defending rivers is often a marathon, demanding years of commitment and persistence. In June 2025, hard work by locals in Bulgaria and Romania was rewarded with successes for Balkan rivers and the communities that protect them. During Balkan Rivers Tour 4 in 2019, BRD joined Bulgarian river defenders in Kresna Gorge to oppose plans for a motorway that threatened to destroy the Struma River corridor. In June 2025, that long struggle reached a major milestone when authorities agreed to reroute the Struma Motorway outside the gorge, concluding a 28-year local campaign to protect the river. The decision stands as a powerful example of what sustained local advocacy can achieve.
BRD also visited the Bâsca Mare River in Romania during Balkan Rivers Tour 4, supporting local defenders and protesting at the proposed dam site. This past June, the Cluj Tribunal ruled that the dam and diversion will not proceed and ordered the removal of existing infrastructure, securing a major victory for the river and for those locals who worked tirelessly to defend it. Slow but steady, wins for rivers are possible!
Protecting rivers is an ongoing battle, and situation for rivers in Slovenia and in the Balkans remains very challenging, but as in previous years, we have chosen to meet change and challenge with persistence. In 2025 we again relied on films, stories, books and public engagement to put rivers in front of people in ways that are meaningful and accessible. As always, you are invited to help – by watching and sharing, by joining discussions and, where possible, standing with rivers in your own way.
Let’s hope that in 2026 many rivers will still flow freely – and that more people will see why this matters.
Thank you to everyone who supported our work, attended screening events, took a book home, or shared a river story with a friend. Your participation keeps this defence alive.
