Beyond Borders: Global Histories of Transboundary Rivers
International Online Workshop
University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
November 19-20, 2026
More than 300 river basins cross international borders, providing freshwater, energy, transportation, food, and ecosystem services for billions of people. Yet transboundary rivers are far more than shared natural resources. They are political, technological, legal, ecological, and diplomatic spaces where states, engineers, scientists, international organizations, and local communities have negotiated competing visions of development, sovereignty, environmental protection, and cooperation.
Although transboundary rivers have attracted growing scholarly attention, research remains fragmented across disciplines. Environmental historians have explored changing human–river relationships; historians of technology have examined hydraulic engineering and infrastructure; historical geographers have analysed river landscapes and territorial change; scholars of Science and Technology Studies (STS) have investigated expertise and knowledge production; political scientists and scholars of international relations have focused on water diplomacy and international institutions; legal scholars have examined international water law; while hydrologists and water-governance researchers have developed sophisticated frameworks for understanding river basin management. Yet these conversations often do not intersect.
This workshop starts from the premise that understanding transboundary rivers requires genuine interdisciplinary dialogue. Rather than treating rivers simply as environmental systems or geopolitical boundaries, we invite participants to explore them as dynamic socio-environmental systems shaped simultaneously by ecology, infrastructure, science, law, diplomacy, economics, and politics.
Building upon the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) project An Environmental History of Transboundary Rivers in Cold War East-Central Europe, the workshop seeks to expand regional scholarship into a broader comparative and global conversation. It aims to establish an international interdisciplinary network dedicated to the historical study of transboundary rivers and to identify new directions for collaborative research at the intersection of environmental history, history of technology, geography, international law, political science, STS, and water governance.
We welcome contributions from scholars working in:
Environmental History
History of Technology
History of Science
Historical Geography
Science and Technology Studies (STS)
Water History
Environmental Humanities
Political Ecology
International Relations
International Environmental Law
Environmental Governance
Hydrology and Water Governance
Geography
Anthropology
Sociology
Environmental Planning
We welcome proposals on topics including, but not limited to:
Comparative histories of transboundary river basins
International river commissions and basin organizations
Environmental governance across political borders
Water diplomacy and international cooperation
Rivers during the Cold War
Hydraulic engineering, dams, and river regulation
Navigation and inland waterways
Flood protection and disaster management
Pollution, water quality, and environmental monitoring
Fisheries, wetlands, and aquatic ecosystems
Hydrological science, environmental expertise, and knowledge production
International organizations and shared waters
Climate change and the historical governance of river basins
Colonial and postcolonial river governance
Indigenous and local perspectives on transboundary rivers
Comparative and global approaches to river history
Rivers, sovereignty, and international environmental law
Methods and concepts for interdisciplinary river research
Studies covering all world regions and historical periods are welcome.
Format:
The workshop will be held in online format.
Rather than focusing exclusively on completed research, we particularly encourage proposals presenting original archival research, conceptual interventions, comparative perspectives, methodological reflections, and work in progress.
The workshop is designed to maximize discussion and exchange across disciplines. Each paper will receive substantial time for discussion, and the programme will conclude with a roundtable on future directions in the interdisciplinary study of transboundary rivers.
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Submission
Please submit:
an abstract of 300–500 words
a short biography (100 words)
to: cesh@osu.cz
Submission deadline: 15 September 2026
Notification of acceptance: 1 October 2026
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