Let’s Defend the Balkan Rivers: Regional Networking, Frames, and Policies for River Protection in Southeastern Europe

This research explores how grassroots initiatives contribute to building a just green transition in Southeastern Europe, focusing on local struggles against hydropower projects that have scaled up into the regional network “Let’s Defend the Balkan Rivers”. It argues that these movements have exposed shared regional threats of environmental degradation, exclusion from decision-making and corruption, and that articulating the transcendent value of rivers has fostered translocal solidarity. Regional networking emerges as crucial for advocating environmental protection at multiple scales, challenging the dichotomy between ecological preservation and economic development, and promoting participatory environmental governance. Strengthening regional cooperation can help reimagine bottom-up, democratic, and ecologically sustainable pathways toward a just green transition.