Water Camp25: Understanding, identifying & resisting aqua nullius. Milestone report IP1.02.02 Water sensitive and liveable communities

This report represents Milestone 10, and is an output, of IP1.02.02 Water sensitive and liveable communities, in the National Environmental Science Program’s (NESP) Sustainable Communities and Waste (SCaW) Hub. It provides an account of the Indigenous-led water camp (Milestone 9). A three-day Indigenous-led water camp was held on Ngunnawal Country (Canberra) May 20-22, 2025, with traditional custodian permission. First Nations campers only attended the first two days, with non-Indigenous campers invited on the third day. The objectives of water camp25 were to: · enable First Nations water academics and practitioners share and practice Indigenous water sciences between themselves, as acts of nation (re)building and resistance to aqua nullius; and · develop non-Indigenous water practitioners and policy makers capacity to work with First Nations peoples, by articulating aqua nullius and sharing First Nations water values and priorities and Indigenous science methods and tools that can contribute to transforming current water policy and governance. Camp outcomes included First Nations water practitioners able to articulate and identify aqua nullius, and more experience in using Indigenous sciences frameworks and methods to challenge it. Importantly, these practitioners are also able to share this knowledge and expertise within their Nation. Similarly, non-Indigenous campers gained a better understanding of water matters important to First Nations peoples, including aqua nullius and how to challenge it by focussing on how to better work with First Nations peoples and water ways of valuing and doing.