A Species Ambassador represents a wild species by learning about it and bringing its interests and needs into public life. First developed in Aarhus in 2017, the method has spread across Denmark, with 132 Species Ambassadors recorded by June 2026.
Problems and Purpose
Non-human species are affected by human decisions about the places and environments they inhabit, but they have no direct voice in the civic and political processes through which their interests are discussed. The Species Ambassador method responds to this gap in non-human representation in public life. Its organisers frame the problem not only as one of biodiversity protection, but also as one of voice: how can the interests and needs of species be heard in social and political debate when those species cannot participate directly in human democratic processes? [1]
The purpose of the method is to give wild species and biodiversity a stronger voice by enabling members of the public to act as spokespersons or representatives for particular species. The method gives individual species a human representative who can bring attention to their interests and needs. The original Aarhus initiative described its goal as bringing nature into democracy. [1][4]
Origins and Development
The method originated in Aarhus, Denmark, through the initiative Arternes Aarhus ("Species of Aarhus" or "City of Species"). The project was launched in 2017 by Rod in collaboration with the Natural History Museum Aarhus and its Rethink Urban Habitats project, linked to Aarhus European Capital of Culture 2017. [4]
The original initiative invited residents to become ambassadors for wild species living in and around Aarhus. Twenty-five ambassadors were appointed on 6 May 2017 at a ceremony at the Natural History Museum. Further ambassadors were subsequently appointed, and the model continued beyond the original 2017 programme. [4][5]
The approach later spread to other Danish cities, including Copenhagen, Aalborg, Fredericia, Viborg, Silkeborg, and Vejle. Local groups are sometimes organised as "Species Embassies": locally based groups bringing together several Species Ambassadors. [1][3]
In November 2024, a national association, Arternes Ambassadører, was formally established in Aarhus to connect local initiatives and support both individual ambassadors and local Species Embassies in Aarhus, Aalborg, Copenhagen, Fredericia, Viborg, Silkeborg, and Vejle. By 2025, the network comprised approximately one hundred ambassadors nationally. The association also established links with related species-representation initiatives in Sweden and Germany. In September 2025, the association organised the Nordic Summit of Species in Aarhus, bringing together Species Ambassadors and related initiatives from across the Nordic region and elsewhere in Europe to exchange approaches to species representation. The method has therefore developed from a city-based initiative into a model used by multiple locally organised groups across Denmark, as well as in collaboration with other country initiatives. [1][3][20]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Species Ambassadors are recruited from the public rather than selected for professional ecological expertise. In the current Danish model, anyone living in Denmark can become an ambassador. Participants do not need to be experts when they begin; developing knowledge of their species is part of taking on the role. [1][5]
Ambassadors represent wild species that form part of the local ecosystem. Domestic animals and cultivated or ornamental plants are excluded. Eligible species include animals, plants, fungi, and algae, drawn from the roughly 39,000 species recorded in Denmark. Conservation status is not a selection criterion. Ambassadors represent threatened or vulnerable species, including wild bees, bats, owls, and swallows, as well as common or sometimes unpopular species such as moles, dandelions, gulls, and wolves. [1][2]
Recruitment has varied as the method has developed. The original Aarhus initiative invited residents of Aarhus and the surrounding area to participate and sought ambassadors from a broad cross-section of the local population. Documented ambassadors have included students, retirees, artists, and entrepreneurs. The current national organisation recruits new ambassadors on an ongoing basis and offers online and self-study workshops for prospective participants. [1][5][7]
Public documentation does not indicate that ambassadors are chosen through a competitive application process or according to demographic selection criteria. [1][5]
How it Works: Process, Interaction, and Decision-Making
The process begins when a participant chooses a wild species and takes on the role of its ambassador. New ambassadors do not need specialist knowledge before taking on the role. The original Aarhus initiative recruited participants through direct contact and open Species Embassy meetings and marked appointments through public ceremonies. The current organisation recruits ambassadors on an ongoing basis and offers introductory workshops, including online and self-study options. They have also held public appointment ceremonies for the new ambassadors. [1][5][7]
Learning and representation develop alongside one another. Ambassadors learn about their species, including its habitat, behaviour, ecological relationships, and the conditions affecting it, and use this knowledge to communicate what they understand to be its interests and needs. The original Aarhus initiative offered coaching from biologists at the Natural History Museum and guidance from the project team. Peer learning also forms part of the method. Local Species Embassies and recurring Open Embassy meetings allow ambassadors to share knowledge, discuss how they represent their species, and develop activities together. Ethnographic research on the Copenhagen Species Embassy found that ambassadors drew on personal encounters with their species alongside ecological knowledge, and also used different forms of creative practice such as storytelling, poetry or performance to communicate species’ experiences and needs. [5][7][10]
Ambassadors represent their species across public, community, educational, and political settings. They give talks, lead nature walks and educational activities, use writing, media, storytelling, art, and performance, and participate in civic and political discussions. The organisation also creates opportunities for ambassadors to practise the role publicly. In 2026, a national outreach tour sent ambassadors to libraries, museums, schools, cultural centres, and festivals to tell stories about their species and lead experiential activities. In Aarhus in 2017, four ambassadors joined city councillors in a public panel debate and spoke from the perspectives of species including a linden tree and a fungus. In Copenhagen, ambassadors have used poetry and performance at public appointment ceremonies, while the great crested newt ambassador spoke and submitted evidence about the species during public debate over housing development on Amager Fælled. [6][8][10][12]
Ambassadors have considerable flexibility in how they perform the role. They may work independently or with others through a Species Embassy and choose the settings, activities, and forms of communication they use. Some local groups also support ambassadors in setting goals for what they want to achieve for their species. Rather than following a common voting or decision-making procedure, ambassadors take continuing responsibility for learning about their species, interpreting its interests, and deciding how to represent those interests in public life. [3][7][10]
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The method has continued to expand: by June 2026, the national association listed 132 Species Ambassadors across Denmark, while related initiatives drawing on the model have also developed in Sweden and Germany. [1][2]
Species Ambassadors have also brought species' interests into formal planning and advisory processes in more than one city. In Copenhagen, the Species Embassy submitted representations concerning protected species during consultation on the Vejlands Kvarter/Fælledby development at Amager Fælled. Municipal documents record its arguments about the great crested newt, its habitat, amphibian fencing, and wildlife passages. The Embassy also participated in a separate statutory process concerning the protection of Amager Fælled. In Aarhus, Arternes Aarhus holds a seat on the municipality's Green Council and in 2024 used this forum to raise concerns on behalf of marine species during consultation over the proposed expansion of Aarhus Harbour. These examples show that Species Ambassador representation has entered formal consultation and municipal advisory processes across different cities. However, no documentation was found on whether Species Ambassador interventions changed the resulting government or planning decisions. [12][13][14][15][16]
The Species Ambassador role has also been adapted for environmental education. Denmark's Naturvidenskabens ABC uses the concept in a teaching programme for pupils aged approximately 11–12, who each represent a wild bee species while researching its ecology, communicating its needs, and developing actions to support its habitat. [19]
At the time of reporting, no systematic evaluation was identified that measures effects on participants, public attitudes, policy decisions, or biodiversity outcomes.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
One notable feature of the Species Ambassador method is its use of a familiar political role to make non-human representation accessible. The terms “ambassador” and “embassy” give participants and audiences a recognisable idea of someone speaking on behalf of another, while shifting the represented party from a human constituency or state to a wild species. The initiative reinforces this diplomatic framing through public appointments, local Species Embassies, and relationships with similar initiatives elsewhere. Related scholarship on more-than-human diplomacy suggests that adapting familiar diplomatic practices can provide new ways of bringing non-human entities into political discussion. [1][3][18]
The method also makes representation specific and tangible. Rather than asking participants to represent “nature” or “biodiversity” as a whole, each ambassador focuses on a particular species and develops knowledge of its circumstances. This can translate broad environmental concerns into concrete questions about what a species needs in a particular place. Documented ambassadors have, for example, raised concerns about nesting opportunities for swifts, the preservation of mature urban trees, forest management, and habitat for the great crested newt. [6][10][12]
Playfulness, imagination, and emotion are also prominent features of the initiative. Research involving more than forty Danish green grassroots groups identified affirmative and imaginative approaches as a recurring feature of contemporary environmental organising. In this research, Species Ambassadors described their approach in terms of joy, enthusiasm, creativity, and imagination, contrasting it with environmental engagement driven primarily by anger, disappointment, and concern. This is reflected in documented practices including costumes, poetry, storytelling, ceremonies, artistic performances, and experiential activities. The research places the initiative within a wider pattern of grassroots groups using positive visions and creative experimentation as part of how they engage people with environmental issues. [7][10][17]
Finally, the accessibility of the ambassador role is both a distinctive feature and a reminder of the limits of this form of representation. Anyone can become an ambassador, allowing individuals and communities to develop relationships with particular species and bring their interests into public discussion. However, the presence of Species Ambassadors does not mean that non-human species have secured formal representation within political decision-making. Ambassadors remain voluntary human representatives without formal authority to speak for their species, even where their contributions enter consultations or advisory processes. The initiative can therefore make the absence of non-human representation within existing institutions more visible while creating practical opportunities to experiment with how that gap might be addressed. [1][11][12][14]
See Also
The following existing Participedia entries are directly relevant to more-than-human representation and participation:
Confluence of European Water Bodies — a recurring transnational initiative in which humans represent rivers, seas, lagoons, glaciers, and other water bodies, exploring alternative approaches to water governance and more-than-human representation.
Interspecies Council — a deliberative method in which participants embody non-human perspectives and speak on behalf of other species or ecological systems.
River Dôn Living Stewardship Agreement — a civil society-led initiative that brings human and more-than-human actors into relational mapping and stewardship processes around the River Dôn in South Yorkshire.
Zoöp (Zoöperation) — a governance and learning method that formally embeds more-than-human interests in organisational decision-making through a Speaker for the Living and a recurring ecological learning cycle.
References
[1] Arternes Ambassadører. “Species’ Ambassadors.” Arternes Ambassadører. https://arternes.dk/en/species-ambassadors/
[2] Arternes Ambassadører. “Hvilke arter har en ambassadør?” [What Species Have an Ambassador?]. Arternes Ambassadører. https://arternes.dk/en/hvilke-arter-har-en-ambassadoer/
[3] Arternes Ambassadører. “Vedtægter for foreningen Arternes Ambassadører” [Statutes of the Species’ Ambassadors Association]. Arternes Ambassadører. Association statutes
[4] Rød. “Arternes Aarhus.” Rød. https://rodnet.org/om-arternes-aarhus/
[5] Rød. “Sådan bliver du ambassadør” [How to Become an Ambassador]. Arternes Aarhus. https://rodnet.org/om-arternes-aarhus/saadan-du-ambassadoer/
[6] Rød. “Muldvarpen får mikrofonen” [The Mole Gets the Microphone]. Arternes Aarhus. Arternes Aarhus public panel documentation
[7] Arternes Ambassadører. Nyhedsbrev nr. 1, februar 2025 [Newsletter No. 1, February 2025]. 2025. Newsletter PDF
[8] Arternes Ambassadører. “Formidlingsturné 2026” [Outreach Tour 2026]. Arternes Ambassadører. 2026 Outreach Tour
[9] Fredericia Kommune. “Grønne fællesskaber” [Green Communities]. Fredericia Kommune. Fredericia Municipality — Arternes Fredericia
[10] Veng, Adam, Magnus Juhl, and Cecilie Rubow. “Artsambassadøren.” Tidsskriftet Antropologi, no. 83 (2021). Article at Tidsskriftet Antropologi
[11] Krøijer, Stine, and Matti Weisdorf. “Introduktion: Antropologien og de andre arter.” Tidsskriftet Antropologi, no. 83 (2021). Article at Tidsskriftet Antropologi
[12] Københavns Kommune. Consultation documentation concerning Vejlands Kvarter/Fælledby and Amager Fælled. Københavns Kommune. Copenhagen Municipality consultation documentation
[13] Miljø- og Fødevareklagenævnet. Decision concerning the protection of Amager Fælled, including consultation submissions from Arternes Ambassade København. Nævnenes Hus. Environmental and Food Appeals Board decision
[14] Aarhus Kommune. “Det Grønne Råd” [The Green Council]. Aarhus Kommune. Aarhus Municipality Green Council
[15] Aarhus Kommune. Referat: Det Grønne Råd, 6. maj 2024 [Minutes: The Green Council, 6 May 2024]. 2024. Green Council meeting minutes
[16] Nielsen, Jeppe Spure. “Havneudvidelsen” [The Harbour Expansion]. Presentation on behalf of Arternes Aarhus to Aarhus Kommune’s Green Council, 6 May 2024. Presentation to the Green Council
[17] Willert, Kristoffer Balslev, and Bryan Yazell. “What These Danish Activists Can Teach the Rest of the World about Fighting Climate Crisis.” The Conversation, 10 December 2025. DOI: 10.64628/AB.c5nd9dfmn. University of Southern Denmark publication record
[18] Constantinou, Costas M., and Eleni Christodoulou. “On Making Peace with Nature: Visions and Challenges towards an Ecological Diplomacy.” Review of International Studies 50, no. 3 (2024): 579–599. DOI: 10.1017/S0260210524000172. Open-access article
[19] Naturvidenskabens ABC. “Bi-rig natur.” Naturvidenskabens ABC. Bi-rig natur teaching programme
[20] Arternes Ambassadører. “Nordic Summit of Species.” 12–13 September 2025, Aarhus. Nordic Summit of Species
External Links
Species’ Ambassadors — official national website
Arternes Aarhus / City of Species
How to become a Species Ambassador — original Aarhus guidance
Current list of Species Ambassadors and represented species
Species Ambassador Outreach Tour 2026
Bi-rig natur — Naturvidenskabens ABC
Notes
* Translation and terminology: Artsambassadør is translated in the entry as “Species Ambassador,” following the English terminology used by Arternes Ambassadører. Arternes Aarhus has also been translated by the organisers as “City of Species.” Arternes Ambassade København is rendered as “Copenhagen Species Embassy.”
Contributor Positionality Statements
The entry is part of the more-than-human democratic innovations collection. It was developed through the research project Mapping emerging practices of nonhuman representation and participation led by Lucy J. Parry and Hans Asenbaum at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy, Claudia de Cordoba Fernandez Farini of Living Imaginaries and Graham Smith at the University of Westminster. The project is funded by Participedia and the Centre for Animals and Social Justice.
This case draws exclusively on publicly available documentation. All descriptive claims are based on documented sources. Interpretive analysis is confined to the Analysis section and informed by the contributor’s broader research on emerging practices of nonhuman representation and participation.
