editorial
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Water awareness is inextricably linked to climate change awareness. In 1987, renowned climate scientist William W. Kellogg wrote an article about “the evolution of awareness” of humankind’s impact on the climate. He noted that over 150 years separated the first observations of this im- pact to the first explicit mention of the greenhouse effect in 1957 (Kellogg 1987). Over 35 years after Kellogg’s article, “awareness” is no longer the greatest challenge: it is “action.” The Water Conference of 1977 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, which aimed at establishing an international water resource...
challenges, concepts and new approaches
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An unbelievably small portion of the water available on planet Earth, just 0.00015 per cent of it, runs in rivers (Garcia-Moreno et al. 2014). And yet, this is the most important water source, not only for humans, but also for animals, plants and entire ecosystems on all continents. The natural flow regime of rivers, including periods of floods and low flows, has set the pace for cultural activities and biological evolution since the earliest days. But, in assuming that water is a resource that can be...
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In recent decades, a technologically driven water management paradigm has fostered a model of “domination over nature” with an unsustainable footprint. This paradigm has also alienated people and communities from their environment and from historical practices and forms of knowledge that involve managing and engaging with water directly. There is a need for a paradigm shift in managing water in a way that reconnects individuals to aquatic environments and water-related heritage and reflects the extraordinary transformation in our understanding of the need for biological diversity to...
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Water and culture have been closely linked to human beings since ancient times. These connections were often lost in the process of industrialization. New water culture policies and initiatives reflect new attempts at collaborative transformation. They provide a way to transcend the current crisis- management discourse and related narrow policy answers offered by policy makers in Europe. The EU foresight scenarios describe potential future developments. They can serve as a starting point for cross-sectoral cooperation and policy making that can help solve the current and upcoming...
methodologies and case studies
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Two resolutions of UNESCO-IHP (2018 and 2021) have highlighted the importance of fostering water sustainability education through networked water museums and developing a world inventory (WIN) of these institutions. To achieve this goal, the Global Network of Water Museums has developed a methodology to initiate a worldwide census of water museums, interpretation centers and water- related heritage values. The benefits of adopting a common methodology are clear. By using a transnational toolkit it will be possible to highlight the large variety of valuable aquatic heritages and the...
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The ancient Valens Aqueduct in the metropolis of Istanbul, Türkiye, has the potential to raise public awareness of historical water management as well as of current and future water supply challenges. This monument stands as a highly visible remnant of what was once the longest water supply line of the Roman world. Although recognized and preserved as a heritage object testifying to its multi- layered history, it has lost its original function and its relationship to water management. We present a program that aims to develop solutions for revitalizing its tangible and intangible values...
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Transforming port infrastructure to meet the increasing demands of urbanization and modernization has been a contentious topic for decades, with push and pull between preserving historic structures and addressing sustainability, economic feasibility and tourism (Babalis 2018). This article takes an interdisciplinary view of these debates by exploring how restoring port infrastructure heritage can align key pillars of sustainable development: a strong local economy, water and sanitation, and social and cultural identity. An ongoing restoration project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, serves as a...
