Humans have shaped water systems for millennia, creating complex networks of physical structures, institutions and cultural practices. These systems reflect locally embedded yet globally influenced values that evolve over time. From infrastructure and landscapes to rituals and laws, human engagement with water is both tangible and intangible, deeply influenced by societal preferences, climate conditions and historical choices. To better understand this diversity, we developed a set of icons to represent various water spaces, functions, practices and values. Rather than offering a fixed...
The yearly Climate Conference of the Parties (COP), also known as the UN Climate Conference and COP30, is coming up November 10–21, 2025. This will be the 30th meeting since the first one in 1995 in Berlin, and 34 years since the first report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was published in 1990. This year, the meeting will take place in Belém do Pará, Brazil, the natural gateway to the Amazon. After these last three decades, analyses indicate an international scenario that is far from what is necessary to guarantee the health of the planet and its inhabitants. We...
Blue Papers aims to inspire new approaches to water, culture, heritage and sustainable development. We believe historical and historiographical analysis can help shift the discourse from strategies focused on short-term gains to long-term approaches that consider both historical dynamics and the potential consequences of future developments. An analytical focus on water – its materiality and flows – can help shift the discourse from disconnected, monodisciplinary approaches to spatial, social and cultural analysis, connecting multiple scales, diverse stakeholders and local...
In 2022, when we proposed capturing water, culture and heritage with a set of icons, we were hoping to gain a better understanding of the relationships between different types of water uses, spaces and practices. As a team, we were hesitant about categorizing water spaces and questioned the usefulness of doing so. However, after more than two years of working with the icons – through the Blue Papers journal, TU Delft’s Water Systems Design course,1 and numerous workshops – we have come to recognize the benefits of this type of categorization. Our experience has...
Designing water systems – interconnected networks of water-related structures and practices – is not only a matter of technology and economics, but also of history, institutions and culture. Understanding these multiple, overlapping and interconnected spaces and practices requires a holistic approach that contextualizes current projects and helps identify challenges and opportunities. The article introduces a value case approach, including tools and methods that can be used to connect spatial, social and cultural conditions and their change over time. Such comprehensive understanding can...
The Mediterranean region faces worsening climate challenges, including rising temperatures, water scarcity and ecosystem degradation. Climate projections indicate a temperature increase of up to 6.5°C by 2100, with reduced rainfall and increased evaporation exacerbating water shortages, particularly in agriculture, which consumes 70–80 per cent of the region’s water. Competition for freshwater, declining agricultural productivity, and salinization of coastal aquifers further threaten sustainability. Ancient hydro-technologies—traditional water management systems developed by ancient...
The qanat, a timeless testament to human ingenuity, emerged on the arid Persian Plateau around three millennia ago as a sustainable solution to water scarcity. This technique channels water from aquifers using gravity through gently sloping sub-horizontal tunnels, avoiding over-extraction and ensuring a delicate balance between human needs and environmental preservation. By naturally regulating water flow according to aquifer levels, qanats prevent excessive depletion, serving as a model for sustainable water resource management. This study explores the fascinating journey of qanats,...
The Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) Council has been established by senior elders, including Anne Poelina, to represent different parts of the river. The interview explores the history of the Council and its goals for holistic development based on what they call “forever” economies. Dr. Poelina explains the Council’s diverse ways of promoting intergenerational equity through the Youth Council, their conservation plan with the nine native title groups and the reason the Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) Council joined the Global Network of Water Museums (WAMU-NET) as a living museum. This interview...
Sustainability transitions offer opportunities to rethink and improve society, such as by improving well-being, reducing inequalities and reconnecting with nature. Yet, mainstream political narratives focus on the short-term costs of sustainability transitions and fail to highlight environmental measures that consider people’s social and cultural realities. This article discusses the shortcomings of current narratives of sustainability transitions in France and explores alternative approaches. Drawing on water heritage and local values can help shape narratives that resonate with people...
Water uses and practices are typically dissociated and considered separately: drinking water, sewage systems and shipping are often treated as distinct systems. Especially in a time of climate-related water systems change, a more holistic approach is needed. This article explores the background of and inspiration for for the value case approach developed and tested in several workshops for port city territories and water systems under my leadership as UNESCO Chair Water, Ports and Historic Cities and with the PortCityFutures Center of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) university consortium....
Methodologies that draw on heritage and local values can stimulate new ideas and actions to make sustainability transitions more locally grounded and inspiring. The value case approach is one such methodology that was applied to the lake and city of Annecy, in France, during a course on water systems design. The author describes the steps of the value case and discusses how heritage and local values served as a compass to develop a vision and to propose actions toward an inspiring future.
Urban water infrastructure in India is currently focused on technocratic solutions, often disregarding sociocultural and environmental values. This article examines the eighteenth-century Peshwa-period nahar (aqueduct) system in Pune, within the broader context of three centuries of urbanization. Developed as part of the 2023 professional education course Water Systems Design: Learning from the Past to Design Resilient Water Futures, it employs the value case methodology and the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to highlight ecosystem-based thinking reflecting...
For more than a century, the ejido system, a historic water and land management system in rural areas of Mexico, has provided a spatial and social context for long-term, sustainable water distribution. The advent of public water distribution under the paradigm of so-called modern water has led the authorities of Mexico City to over-rely on a supply-side approach. As a result, the hydrological boundaries of the local and neighboring watersheds have been stretched to a dangerous degree. Furthermore, many residents experience limited access to clean water. Today we need to rethink...
This paper explores the use of soundscape design to reconnect the people of Tetouan, Morocco, with their cultural heritage as embodied in their historic skundo water system. Our understanding of soundscapes within this context was developed through an in-depth soundscape analysis within the medina of Tetouan that identified how the skundo system and its audible sounds are still present. To amplify the presence of the skundo system and raise awareness of the value of water, we used the system’s traditional clay pipes, with their audible and tactile qualities, as focal elements in our...
This article presents insights gained from an international research-by-design workshop on the future of the historic harbor of Scheveningen, its heritage and the districts surrounding it in The Hague. The workshop – part of long-standing cooperation between Brazil and the Netherlands on heritage management – explored how and to what extent historic features can accommodate adaptation to rising sea levels. The results of the workshop provide insights for coastal cities worldwide and show that historic features can support nature-based and adaptive strategies for climate resilience and...
The region surrounding Gouda, in the middle of the Dutch Delta, is one of the lowest-lying areas in the Netherlands. The historic inner city is situated at the current high-water mark (Amsterdam Ordnance Datum, or NAP). In contrast, the surrounding landscape lies between two and six meters below that due to subsidence as a result of draining the land and making it available for urbanization and agriculture. The original factors that caused the land to subside are still at play here, while relative sea level rise adds to the problem by making these areas prone to flooding. In this region,...
Traditional activities, including aquaculture, of communities living on the edge of the Deep Bay Wetlands in Hong Kong transformed the landscape into a semi-artificial ecosystem that supported local wildlife, briefly enhancing its ecological value. However, since the 1970s, rapid urbanization has disrupted these human-nature interdependencies through habitat loss, fragmentation and the decline of traditional occupations. Today, the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy (NMDS) further threatens this unique eco-cultural landscape. This article considers how village-based practices have...
The Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) in the Kimberley Region of North West Australia is a National Heritage site, recognized for its cultural and biodiversity values. This interview explores the conceptual and ethnographic process of creating Living Water Heritage, an online exhibition showcasing the catchment and First Australian Traditional Owners. The project showcases how Indigenous communities are making their voices heard in a modernizing and extractive world faced with climate challenges, and are working to protect their cultural and natural heritage in line with sustainable...
In March 2022, the Ninth World Water Forum, focusing on the theme of “Water Security for Peace and Development,” was held in Dakar, Senegal. Responding to the recommendations of the Forum and sanctioned by the Dakar Declaration, “A Blue Deal for Water and Sanitation Security for Peace and Development,” Senegal’s Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Minister of Culture and Communication, the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar and the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), in partnership with the UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa in Dakar, met twice to consult...
We invite contributions for a special issue of Blue Papers focusing on the Netherlands (low and high regions) and the Caribbean.
Read more about Call for papers: Special Issue on Netherlands and the Caribbean
