Dogger Bank Cultural Diplomacy
On Thursday 4 June 2026 the Embassy of the North Sea and Museum Panorama Mesdag are hosting a programme about Dogger Bank Cultural Diplomacy: From restoring to restorying the Dogger Bank. British Council Director Jennifer Cosgrave is one of the speakers at the event, she will reflect on cultural diplomacy today, asking: what if the Dogger Bank were seen not as a contested space, but as an active force in shaping cultural and political narratives? Her presentation reimagines it as a living seascape of connection, possibility, and restoration.
Th event will explore new ways of understanding multispecies cultural diplomacy by approaching the Dogger Bank not as a shared space for interstate cooperation, but as a political actor in its own right, an entity with intrinsic value that we engage with, listen to and represent. Artists, curators, researchers and diplomats are invited to rethink and reimagine cultural diplomacy not about but with the Dogger Bank, grounded in perspectives and storytelling from the Netherlands and the UK.
Rewilding Dogger Bank
The Dogger Bank, a vast shallow sandbank in the North Sea, is a vital nursery for sharks, rays, herring and cod, as well as a year-round rich feeding ground for whales and seabirds. It is a Natura 2000 Marine Protected Area. This protection, however, exists mostly on paper, as harmful activities and ecosystem decline continues. Largely out of sight, the Dogger Bank serves as a diplomatic space where the Netherlands, UK, Denmark and Germany negotiate interests such as fisheries, energy, environmental protection and shipping.
Since 2025, an international coalition (Doggerland Foundation (NL), Embassy of the North Sea (NL), ARK Rewilding (NL), Blue Marine Foundation (UK), BUND (DE) and WWF (DK)) have joined forces to restore a healthy and resilient Dogger Bank. Through the Rewilding Dogger Bank Programme, together we pursue legal action, reef restoration, research and imagination, while fostering a broad, democratic dialogue on the future of the North Sea.
We cannot protect what we do not know
Within the Rewilding Dogger Bank Programme, the School of Dogger Bank is an experimental platform for learning and engagement, inviting artists, researchers and audiences to develop unconventional perspectives, artistic research and design approaches that strengthen the Dogger Bank’s cultural, political and legal position. Outcomes take the form of publications, artworks, assemblies, expeditions and exhibitions, with selected artists also featured in DRIFT: Dune to Dogger Bank.
One of the School of Dogger Bank’s first aims is to understand our complex relationship with this distant seascape. Because we cannot protect what we do not know. In the UK, close cultural and economic ties to the Dogger Bank mean that Doggerland features more strongly in the public imagination. This afternoon, we will explore British and Dutch perspectives on Dogger Bank storytelling – historical, political, cultural and multispecies – to deepen our understanding of this vital North Sea ecosystem and spark cross-border collaborations across the four Dogger Bank countries and beyond.
The event is free of charge and held on Thursday 4 June from 13:00 to 16:30 at Museum Panorama Mesdag. More information can be found on the Embassy of the North Sea website. Register for a free ticket (including a visit to the exhibition DRIFT: Dune to Dogger Bank).
The programme is part of the exhibition DRIFT: Dune to Dogger Bank (21 March – 13 September 2026) at Museum Panorama Mesdag.