Rights of nature, participation and governance in Europe: a sociolegal study of the Mar Menor (Spain) as a subject of rights

The project is a sociolegal case study on the acknowledgement of the salty lagoon of Mar Menor in Murcia (Spain) as subject of rights in 2022. The Mar Menor case is a crucial reference for similar bottom-up processes across Europe seeking to recognise natural areas as legal entities entitled to rights. However, the extent to which these rights reflect societal aspirations for nature protection, the mechanisms through which legal frameworks drive socio-ecological changes, and the translation of granted rights into concrete governance practices remain contested. The project aims to answer these questions by proposing an empirical qualitative study that analyses the socio-ecological claims of civic actors in Murcia, the legal construction of the Mar Menor as a rights-bearing entity, and the realisation of these rights in the local governance sphere. Drawing on socio-legal theories, the study examines the legal translation of socioecological claims and their translation into local governance practices. Employing a bottom-up socio-legal methodology, it tracks changes in discourses and practices over time using legal sources, policy documents, and interviews with experts and civic actors. The research sheds light on the implications of granting rights to nonhuman entities amidst European socio-ecological transitions and provides an academic foundation for studying similar future processes in the region. The project is conducted with funds from the Swedish Research Council.