The Anima Mundi association was founded in late 2019 on the initiative of Petrea Ciortan, growing out of the creative atmosphere surrounding the Celebration of Water on the island of Samothraki and his courses on water’s role in the ecosystem and on understanding the human body.
The early years were devoted to developing a broad vision of water, the ecosystem and the human body, alongside intensive field study of biodiversity, especially in the Apuseni Mountains.
From 2020 to the present, Anima Mundi:
- has organised the Celebration of Water every year, initiated in 2018 by Petrea Ciortan: in 2020, around Lake Durankulak and the village of Krapets, in Bulgaria; in 2021, in Slovenia and Croatia; in 2022, in Bucharest, in the Dâmbovița basin; in 2023, at 2 Mai, on the Black Sea coast; in 2024, at Sfântu Gheorghe, in the Danube Delta; in 2025, in the Danube Gorges area; in 2026, in the Rarău area, in the Bistrița River basin;
- has organised themed hikes in the Apuseni, Bucegi, Rarău, Berzunți and Rila Mountains, in the Danube Gorges and at Lakes Durankulak, Bled and Bohinj;
- has delivered online courses on the importance of water in the ecosystem and on understanding the human body;
- has created informational materials and maintained a consistent online presence, through articles and on social media, on respect for water and forests.
From 2026 onwards, building on the experience gained over these years, Anima Mundi aims to develop much larger projects.
The first of these, now in its early stages, is the long-term project ‘Aqua Mater. The essential role of water in the ecosystem’.
Together, for people and nature
