Blue Papers: a Journal for Empowering Water and Heritage for Sustainable Development edited by Carola Hein, Matteo D’Agostino, Carlien Donkor & Zuzanna Sliwinska.
Colonial Disaster, the “Capitalocene” and Contemporary Lessons: The Great Flood of 1924 in Southern India
Floods impact many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aspects of sanitation and water supply. They are especially detrimental to those in lower socio-economic strata. The 2018 Kerala floods disrupted the lives of 5.4 million people, resulting in funds and attention being diverted from SDGs priorities and toward rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts. Such ravages of nature often result from the over-exploitation of local natural resources and the mismanagement of infrastructure. Colonialism was a watershed in such ecological destruction. The Great Flood of 1924, which devastated parts of present-day Kerala, is an example of a colonial-era-induced natural disaster. A century later, revisiting this disaster in the light of Kerala’s 2018 floods offers instructive pointers for achieving disaster resilience today – in a region known for its rich biodiversity and population density. This study also highlights how historical forces like colonialism contributed to transforming this once peripheral region into a “risk society.”
Copyright (c) 2025 Mahendranath Sudhindranath, John Bosco Lourdusamy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Drowning Heritage: The Impact of Climate Change and Erosion on Azizakpe’s Water Culture
Islands have built their culture and heritage around bodies of water. However, due to climate change, the coastal islands are steadily disappearing because of severe flooding and erosion, as in the case of Azizakpe, a fishing community whose history and culture are strongly connected to water. Human activities, including the dredging of the estuary, along with sea level rise exacerbated by global climate change are the primary drivers for this loss. Although various coastal management and adaptation measures have been introduced, their outcomes remain uncertain. This study examines the Azizakpe community and the rapidly deteriorating state of the island. It highlights the effect on local livelihoods and how the community is attempting to cope with the situation and safeguard their water-based heritage, which will be at risk if islanders are displaced.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rhoda Osei-Nkwantabisa, Martin Larbi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Adaptive Reuse of Maritime Infrastructure: Case Study of Colonial Harbormaster Towers in Java’s Port Cities
The north coast of Java has been well known to overseas traders as a hub for commodities, as well as spices brought from the Spice Islands (now Maluku Islands or the Moluccas). By the early nineteenth century, the Dutch government took control of the maritime trade in the region through the Dutch East India Company and developed the major port cities of Jakarta (formerly Batavia), Surabaya and Semarang, where the remnants of the colonial past continue to exist. After Indonesia’s independence, several colonial port structures, such as the harbormaster tower and its riverside facilities, were neglected until recently, when cities began programs to restore them. This article examines the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic towers in Java’s three major port cities and attempts to revive them amid the climate crisis challenges.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ricky Purbaya, Rizki Dwika Aprilian, Miktha Farid Alkadri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Mapping and Reviving Ancestral Communal Pools (Birket) in Southern Lebanon: Survey Methods, Findings and Policy Pathways
This article presents a mixed-methods survey of 101 birket across 86 villages in southern Lebanon, combining historical cartography, satellite imagery and ground-truthing with oral histories. It details site typologies, spatial patterns, present condition (functioning/abandoned/destroyed) and contemporary uses, and it demonstrates how dispersed small reservoirs can complement centralized systems. A focused case study of the village of Marwaheen traces the pool’s rehabilitation and associated gains in irrigated land and community engagement. Building on a resilience-based assessment (access/equity, adaptability, participation, ecological value, cultural relevance), the article identifies priority pools for restoration and translates results into practical policy pathways for municipal–NGO partnerships. The article offers openly reproducible mapping conventions and field templates to support future documentation without reliance on proprietary basemaps.
Copyright (c) 2025 Georges Gharios https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Playing with Water: A Value Case for Gamified Water Resilience in Alfândega da Fé, Portugal
This contribution explores the case of Alfândega da Fé, Portugal, using a value case approach. It is based on a project completed in the course Water System Design: Learning from the Past for Resilient Water Futures, offered by the UNESCO Chair Water, Ports and Historic Cities team based at TU Delft. The article argues that by adopting an innovative water management strategy and engaging the community through gamification, Alfândega da Fé can become a sustainable city adapted to future environmental needs, with reduced and more responsible water consumption, aligned with current legislation and SDGs. Based on the value case approach, the article shows how we can learn from the past, make connections between water systems and connect to the local environment to achieve a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive water system. The plan is based on the creation of an interactive water services platform for local people designed to increase general knowledge about water and enable the local population to play an important role in water consumption and enhancing water reuse.
Copyright (c) 2025 Joao Camelo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Second Terrace: Reconnecting with Water and the Vernacular in the Ifugao Rice Terraces
The traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) that is deeply embedded in the Ifugao Rice Terraces offers crucial insights for socio-ecological adaptation and resilience in times of climate change. It helps sustain local biodiversity and supports ecosystem processes while inspiring new design ideas that encourage an epistemological shift that involves integrating traditional knowledge with incremental innovations from the past into future solutions. The Second Terrace Lodge research-by-design project highlights the importance of the Ifugao community’s local landscape and cultural heritage, illustrating how traditional water and land management can be integrated into contemporary architecture and landscape design.
Copyright (c) 2025 Leonardo Zuccaro Marchi, Shubham Majumder, Sara Sabry https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Constructing the Karakum Canal: The Urbanization of Soviet Turkmenistan and the Aral Sea Crisis
The collapse of the Aral Sea ecosystem is regarded as one of the most devastating environmental tragedies in history. Primarily driven by Soviet-era irrigation practices aimed at expanding agriculture in Central Asia’s arid regions, the catastrophe has had lasting ecological and socioeconomic consequences. To address the repercussions of past actions, it is essential to move beyond perceiving water as a “national” resource: It cannot be fully comprehended or effectively managed within national borders. An ecosystem-based approach can help divert from a technologically and economically based mono-functional value system, promoting possibilities for sustainable development in the region.
Copyright (c) 2025 Estere Cvilikovska https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Rituals and Residues: Mapping Mining Landscapes and Spatial Practices Along South Africa’s Klip River
Gold mining along South Africa’s Witwatersrand mining belt began in the late nineteenth century, significantly impacting water ecosystems, especially the Klip River, the largest tributary of the Vaal River. Despite challenges of acid mine drainage and compromised water quality, century-old religious practices like river baptisms persist, demonstrating cultural resilience as communities maintain their traditions amidst environmental adversity. This case study aims to illustrate how cultural resilience manifests through ritual practices and to propose a framework for addressing the socio-environmental complexities of post-mining landscapes.
Copyright (c) 2025 Shreya Sen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Reconsidering “Water” as an Initiator and Transformer of River Landscape Heritage: The Case of the Menderes (Maeander) Delta, Türkiye
Historically, the Menderes (Maeander) River has played a crucial role in the development of settlements and cultures, shaping the natural, social, cultural, economic, and governmental dynamics of western Anatolia. Known as the “Valley of Civilizations,” its delta contains water-related heritage, knowledge, and traditions, encompassing agricultural and urban development as well as industrial and technological innovation. Today, the river’s layered landscape reflects a centuries-long history of water management and infrastructure. While the river remains critical to the continuity of life in the region, communities along its course have lost many sociocultural connections and meaningful relationships with water and the river. This article reports on research that aims to restore those connections by using water as a unifying element and catalyst, applying a “landscape biography” approach to promote the holistic and sustainable heritage conservation and management of the Menderes River landscape and its communities.
Copyright (c) 2025 Gökhan Okumuş, A. Güliz Bilgin Altınöz, Gerdy A. Verschuure-Stuip https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Historical Water Governance in Turkmenistan and the Challenges of Soviet Interventions
This article investigates historical water management practices in Turkmenistan and the development of canal construction technology, comparing the operation of traditional irrigation canals with Soviet water management policies. It explores how Soviet officials regarded water and used water management to consolidate state power and advance the region economically, arguing that centralized Soviet water management policies, which largely disregarded local expertise and participation, ultimately proved unsustainable and environmentally destructive. The article underscores the need to include diverse stakeholders in decision-making processes to avoid perpetuating outdated practices, further exacerbating the deterioration of the environment and societal customs.
The Politics of Iraq’s Waterscape: 1920-2024
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), historically a landscape with abundant water resources, has undergone significant geopolitical changes over the last century. Today, the country must find solutions for extreme water shortages. Dukan Dam serves as an example of how hegemonic and hierarchical effects from recent history have influenced water governance. While population growth and climate change along with unilateral water resource activities undertaken by neighboring states are exacerbating water shortages for Iraq and the KRI, it is important to analyze the internal waterscape and how it is managed. In this article, I focus on the period from 1920 to 2024 in Iraq to shed light on problems of governance strains pertaining to water. To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, Iraq must reckon with its past to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.
Copyright (c) 2025 Meg John https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Repower the Harbormaster Towers: Managing Maritime Artifacts in Java’s Port Cities
For centuries, Java played a pivotal role in the global shipping trade, connecting the spice islands with the Western world. Its northern coastline was home to three major port cities: Batavia (now Jakarta), Surabaya and Semarang, where trade was overseen by the syahbandar or harbormaster– a position dating from pre-colonial times. This role existed throughout the colonial era, when masonry towers with timber floors were constructed for harbormasters to manage port activities. Although revitalization efforts have emerged since the first decade of the twenty-first century, these towers have now been largely forgotten due to port relocations, land subsidence, sea-level rise and changes in ownership. Drawing on archival research and observation, this article examines how historic harbormaster towers in Java’s three major port cities are being preserved amid climate change challenges.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rizki Dwika Aprilian, Ricky Purbaya, Miktha Farid Alkadri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Sustainable Development and Indigenous Knowledge: The Role of Ancestral Communal Pools (Birket) in Southern Lebanon
This article explores the pivotal role of ancestral communal pools, known as birket, in fostering sustainable water management, social resilience and climate adaptation in southern Lebanon. Rooted in centuries-old indigenous knowledge, these open-air reservoirs have historically enabled rural communities to manage scarce water resources through collective action and seasonal rituals. Despite the pressures of modernization, conflict and environmental degradation, many birket still exist – serving not only as functional infrastructure but also as vital symbols of cultural identity and solidarity. Based on a detailed survey and fieldwork in the historical region of Jabal Amel, this study highlights the practical and symbolic significance of birket, especially in border zones marked by displacement and ecological fragility. Examining their socio-ecological value and restoration potential, the article makes a case for integrating traditional water systems into national strategies for sustainable development and climate resilience – particularly in contexts where centralized infrastructure remains insufficient or ecologically unsound.
River Port Cities Facing Climate Change: Global Examples for Heritage-Based Sustainable Development
River port cities are on the frontline of climate change – as both part of the solution and as early victims of its impact, which demands new strategies for all river port communities. With several study cases, we explore how actions being taken relate to sustainability agendas such as Agenda 2030 of the Association Internationale Villes et Ports. We illuminate the role of heritage in maintaining and fostering identity, integration and sustainable development in port cities. In Strasbourg (France), we show how a port authority can act to improve the connection between port and urban activities, but also how port heritage can be used to educate citizens about port activities. We consider a more institutional approach to fluvial heritage preservation in the case of Lyon (France) and cases in Australia and Cameroon that show how local and port authorities can make efforts to respect local communities along the river and how those efforts can help them plan their development more sustainably.
Copyright (c) 2025 Noémi Mené, Avicenna Tanubrata, José Manuel Pagés Sánchez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Understanding the Historical Geography of Water Use in Estate Landscapes: Learning from the Past to Address Present-Day Water Challenges
In the Netherlands, climate change has brought longer periods of drought alongside short periods of more intense rain, prompting planning and heritage professionals to explore new approaches to water management. One promising method is “learning from the past.” Landscape history studies can reveal continuity and change in hydrological practices, offering knowledge, inspiration and potential solutions to today’s water challenges. But what does it mean to learn from the past? Historic knowledge must go beyond simply identifying historic water structures in the landscape. This article focuses on country estates, analyzing these heritage sites as spatial and social ensembles in wider landscape systems. Tracing how water shaped the establishment and development of country houses and estates reveals important dynamics and principles. This deeper understanding of the historical geographical dynamics of water use can help present-day estate owners, governments and spatial planners foster more resilient estate landscapes.
Copyright (c) 2025 Elyze Storms-Smeets https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Environmental Threats to Prehistoric Treasures: Tassili n’Ajjer and Hoggar Facing Climatic Disruptions
In Tassili n’Ajjer, a UNESCO World Heritage property, and the Hoggar Mountains prehistoric rupestrian (rock) art reveals a critical narrative of environmental transformation. Dating from 10,000 BC to approximately the first millennium AD, these paintings document a once-verdant Sahara, contrasting sharply with today’s arid landscape. These archaeological treasures now face an existential threat from contemporary climate change. Unpredictable rainfall, increased humidity and temperature fluctuations are systematically degrading the delicate art. As climate change intensifies, the study emphasizes the need for integrated conservation approaches that combine advanced monitoring, community-based stewardship and international collaboration.
Copyright (c) 2025 Amira Ghennaï, Said Madani https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Watermills as Cultural-Natural Ecosystems: Tangible and Intangible Heritage for Sustainable Water and Energy Management in a Changing Climate
Watermills are not remnants of obsolete technologies but dynamic socio-ecological systems in which hydrology, craftsman ship, landscape processes and community knowledge have coevolved for centuries. Although mills appear in many UNESCO World Heritage and Intangible Heritage inscriptions, their ecological functions and climate-adaptation potential remain largely underrecognized. This article demonstrates how historic mill infrastructures – by regulating flow, managing sediment, supporting biodiversity and generating low-impact energy – embody long-standing forms of water governance that anticipate today’s nature-based solutions. Drawing on recent evidence, the article shows that active or revived milling practices strengthen landscape resilience, whereas abandoned mills deteriorate rapidly under climate stress, amplifying environmental risks.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Carmela Grano https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Ancient Wood and Climate Resilience: Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps
As climate change threatens heritage sites, modern settlements and landscapes around the world through flooding and rising sea levels, closer examination of prehistoric innovations may inspire solutions based on practices that have been tested for over 7000 years. Elevated architecture, natural ventilation systems and minimal hydrological impact provide actionable blueprints for sustainable building and planning today. By integrating these time-tested strategies with modern technology, the UNESCO World Heritage property of Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps can contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, transforming ancient techniques into modern climate adaptation tools.
Copyright (c) 2025 Cyril Dworsky, Barbara Fath https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Exploring the Venetian Lagoon: Toward A New Culture of Environmental Heritage
Venice and its Lagoon, a UNESCO World Heritage property, epitomizes the challenges of water-related climate change. Historically, it has been an exemplary site of human life in close interaction with water. Today, with rising sea levels and intensifying storm surges, it offers a powerful case for developing cohesive, inclusive, and adaptive water management. The lessons emerging from Venice have relevance to other UNESCO heritage sites. In all its complexity, Venice underscores the need to recognize water’s dynamic nature in governance and to avoid reliance on rigid, fail-safe solutions, instead emphasizing collaborative actions supported by political commitment. This article reframes the heritage of Venice and its lagoon as a dynamic, amphibious process, and argues that collaborative, adaptive governance is the only viable path to a sustainable future.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Chiara Tosi, Luca Velo, Michela Pace, Mette Juhl Jessen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Impact of Climate Change on Cultural Heritage: The Case of the Tomb of Askia
The UN SDG Agenda does not mitigate the impacts of flooding and desertification or address the regional insecurity affecting the Tomb of Askia and the surrounding area, Gao, which is experiencing devastating droughts and rainfall, increasing insecurity. Only through a deeper understanding of the interrelation of these issues and by significant reporting improvements, can we realize the UN 2030 Agenda.
Copyright (c) 2025 Mamadou Samaké https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Modern Water Management and the Challenges of Climate Change at the World Heritage Property Upper Harz Water Management System
The Upper Harz Water Management System is an outstanding example of effective water management over the centuries. Through historical development and adaptive change over centuries, a multifunctional system has evolved that remains in active use today. Since the site’s UNESCO designation as a World Heritage property in 2010, continuous monitoring and maintenance have been integral to its management. In recent years, challenges arising from climate change and safety-related hydraulic engineering issues, as well as financial constraints, have put the monument under increasing pressure. With the common goal of ensuring that the historic elements and their operation continue to contribute to a wide range of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provide essential public services in the future, changes are necessary. World Heritage management that incorporates the importance of water management is therefore essential, just as, conversely, the World Heritage and the monument play a supporting role and basis for the management of water in the Upper Harz Water Management System.
Copyright (c) 2025 Manuela Armenat, Christian Bellak, Andreas Lange https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Amsterdam’s Quay Walls: Methods for Connecting Past, Present and Future
The much-needed repair and rebuilding of Amsterdam’s historical quay walls and bridges coincides with growing demand for innovation, ranging from improved logistics and energy systems to enhanced biodiversity and climate resilience. These technology-driven transformations are unfolding in the heart of a World Heritage property known for its distinctive architectural and urban character. This article explores the complexities of integrating heritage into transdisciplinary design processes, focusing on the Canal Ring Area inside the Singelgracht. It proposes three axes for planning interventions that draw meaningfully on the past while addressing future needs, including those related to climate change. In particular, the article considers how historical analysis, spatial mapping and narrative-based approaches can strengthen the integration of historic spaces and practices into locally grounded, sustainable, climate-responsive design.
Copyright (c) 2025 Carola Hein, Regina Klinger, Christel Voncken, Prapti Gupta, Vincent Baptist https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Water Management in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve: The Village of Pampaneira at the Barranco de Poqueira Heritage Site
Recent changes in how water resources are managed in the Alpujarra – a vulnerable region on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada in Andalusia, Spain – are contributing to the degradation of formerly lush landscapes, which are now becoming increasingly arid under the pressure of global climate change. Poor water management practices risk pushing the environment beyond a point of no return, making recovery impossible unless the current climate emergency is addressed. It is therefore necessary to learn from the millennia-old culture and traditional processes of adaptation and resilience that have enabled communities in this region to thrive without overexploiting or depleting natural resources. This paper examines the village of Pampaneira, located in the Barranco de Poqueira, a heritage site within the Sierra Nevada UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The village has historically practiced a unique and sustainable approach to water management, supporting human consumption, agriculture, daily activities, energy production and bioclimatic mechanisms established in the municipality.
Copyright (c) 2025 Luis José García-Pulido https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Wetland Contract as a Governance Tool to Manage Conflicts in the Venetian Lagoon
Venice and its Lagoon, a vulnerable UNESCO World Heritage property, requires innovative governance tools to manage its complexity amid intensifying impacts of climate change. The local community has the potential to act as a living laboratory for testing new approaches to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This article examines the participatory process behind the Wetland Contract for the Northern Lagoon of Venice, a government instrument designed to strengthen protection of the lagoon’s wetlands. The initiative brings together diverse stakeholders and local actors who commit to managing, restoring and protecting wetlands in a coordinated manner. The contract aims to balance competing priorities of socioeconomic development and biodiversity conservation.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Chiara Tosi, Alessia Franzese, Mette Juhl Jessen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Environmental Monitoring for Water Heritage: Innovations and Challenges for the Grand Canal of Suzhou, China
The Grand Canal in China is a regional waterway infrastructure serving multiple functions, including transportation and water regulation, and historically, it has supported economic growth and urbanization along its route. Within China’s unique decentralized environmental management system, the multifaceted value of the Grand Canal presents distinct challenges, including inter-regional and inter-departmental challenges. This article examines the latest water management initiatives along the Suzhou section of the Grand Canal and explores the role of environmental monitoring in protecting this UNESCO World Heritage property. The experimental integration of water-surface-aerial heritage monitoring with the Joint Meeting System in Suzhou provides a nuanced perspective on the interplay between technology and sustainable development.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ting Wang https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Allowing Natural Sedimentation in the Nieuwe Waterweg to Reduce Salinity Intrusion and the Effects of Sea Level Rise
The Nieuwe Waterweg is the artificial mouth of the Rhine and Meuse Rivers in the Netherlands and an important shipping channel for the Port of Rotterdam. The channel, about a half-kilometer wide, is dredged to depths of more than 16 m to allow navigation. This substantial depth has adverse effects on flood safety, ecology and salinity intrusion in the lower river system. Mitigating these effects through engineering is costly and increasingly unviable with rising sea levels. A straightforward, nature-based alternative is to allow natural sedimentation, gradually making the channel shallower again while the port continues to expand seaward. We present 1:1000 scale physical experiments as a future vision for sedimentation in the ports and the Nieuwe Waterweg. The observed behavior aligns with that of similar estuaries and ports worldwide, demonstrating the broader applicability of this approach. Based on the current sediment budget, the sedimentation rate is estimated 0.5–1.0 m per decade. If transitional and structural changes in port logistics are coordinated with this sedimentation rate, the port economy can be expected to benefit.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maarten Kleinhans, Silke Baltussen, Eise Nota, Jana Cox, Han Meijer, Jasper Hugtenburg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Water Spaces of St. Petersburg and its World Heritage: Climate Change and Other Threats
St. Petersburg and its surrounding areas have been shaped by their relationship with water. Following the example of Amsterdam, city founder Peter the Great sought to supplement the Neva River Delta with numerous canals. He also aimed to make the new Russian capital the country’s primary port and trade center by shifting it toward the open sea, which led to the establishment of the port city of Kronstadt on Kotlin Island. Today, the historic center of St. Petersburg, including the Neva water spaces and the Kronstadt forts and harbors on this islands, is listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, comprising 116 individual cultural heritage sites. However, with the intensifying impacts of climate change, the property is at risk of flooding. Specialists’ calculations have made it possible to make accurate predictions and propose measures to protect the city from such threats. The outcomes were incorporated into St. Petersburg’s Regional Climate Change Adaptation Plan; however, the document pays little attention to safeguarding cultural heritage. At the same time, rapid urbanization poses just as serious a threat as climate change to St. Petersburg and its surrounding areas, and for many years has brought harm to the “Historic Centre of St. Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.”
Copyright (c) 2025 Sergey Gorbatenko https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Water Management System of Augsburg: UNESCO World Heritage Property, Global Practice Example and Role Model
The buildings and infrastructure of the UNESCO World Heritage property, the Water Management System of Augsburg, document the use of water resources over the course of 800 years. The system embodies sustainability and is recognised for its innovative solutions. The foundation for its management is the 2019 management plan, developed for the site’s UNESCO nomination. Building upon this foundation, the City of Augsburg implemented its Klimawandelanpassungskonzept (Climate Adaptation Plan) in 2022. This subsequent program focuses on urban resilience and sustainable development, linking directly to the World Heritage property by identifying “water” as a key action field. Current responses to climate challenges, closely connected to the Augsburg World Heritage property, include three EU projects: Licca Liber, LIFE, and Contempo2, which aim to restore the Lech River and surrounding floodplain habitats.
Copyright (c) 2025 Christian Schaller https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Learning from the Subak World Heritage Property: The Importance of Co-Creation for Water Management and Climate Adaptation
The Cultural Landscape of Bali Province, a UNESCO World Heritage property in Indonesia, features ancient rice terraces and the subak irrigation system, reflecting a millennium-old harmony between humans, nature and the spiritual world. The subak landscape faces increasing challenges that threaten its sustainability. Alongside the pressure of rapidly expanding tourism, the subak system is increasingly vulnerable to water scarcity and shifting weather patterns due to climate change. This article examines the role of co-creation and local knowledge, advocating for the incorporation of community-led practices in the management of World Heritage properties. Co-creation can improve the effectiveness of management plans, align conservation goals with local communities’ adaptive practices and enhance the resilience of the subak system. The article underscores the critical need for World Heritage management plans to integrate climate adaptation strategies rooted in local knowledge, ensuring a more responsive and sustainable approach to preserving the heritage landscape.
Copyright (c) 2025 Diana Rahman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Resilience Value and Recovery: The Symbiotic Relationship between Classical Gardens of Suzhou and the Historic Urban Water System
The World Heritage property Classical Gardens of Suzhou (CGS) comprises water-focused cultural landscapes closely integrated with the historic urban water system (HUWS) of the ancient city of Suzhou in China. Historically, the gardens and the water system developed together, influencing and complementing one another in a symbiotic relationship. In response to the combined pressures of climate change and rapid urbanization, the resilience value – that is, the inherent capacity to adapt to and withstand environmental stresses – embedded in this relationship offers critical insights for urban planners, ecologists and cultural heritage agencies working to improve the flood and ecological resilience of gardens and ancient cities. This article surveys relevant scholarship and draws on field visits and interviews. It focuses on the resilience value of the symbiotic relationship that developed between the gardens and the urban water system and reviews key policies and practices since the 1950s. It summarizes efforts that have helped revive the symbiotic relationship and proposes strategies to further promote the recovery of this relationship by drawing on its embedded resilience value to enhance the resilience of both the gardens and the city of Suzhou.
Copyright (c) 2025 Yapeng Ou, Zhen Cai, Qingzhou Wu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0