Adaptive Strategies for Water Heritage: Past, Present and Future

448 Pages·2020·31.047 MB·English

by  Carola Hein

Carola Hein
Editor
Adaptive
Strategies for
Water Heritage
Past, Present and Future
Adaptive Strategies for Water Heritage
Carola Hein
Editor
Adaptive Strategies
for Water Heritage
Past, Present and Future
Editor
CarolaHein
Faculty of Architecture andthe Built
Environment
Technical University Delft
Delft, Zuid-Holland,The Netherlands
ISBN978-3-030-00267-1 ISBN978-3-030-00268-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00268-8
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Foreword by Giulio Boccaletti
That the world may be facing a water crisis is an idea now firmly entrenched in
globaldiscourse.TheWorldEconomicForumhasrankedtherisksassociatedwith
waterasamongthehighesttoglobalprosperity.TheUNhasdeclared2018–2028as
theDecadeforActiononWaterforSustainableDevelopment.Indeed,thesymptoms
of the current moment point to a society that has not come to terms with its own
water insecurity: chronic scarcity and over-extraction are the norms in about
one-thirdoftheworld’sbasins.Sometwentymillionpeopleperyeararedisplaced
by natural catastrophes caused by water, an amount comparable to that of war.
Billions do not enjoy safe, reliable access to water in their homes. As the human
population tripled over the last forty years, the number of animals in freshwater
systems—such as fish, amphibians, and birds—has dropped by more than
three-quarters.Itispredictedthattheriskstobothpeopleandnaturewillworsenas
climate change modifies thehydrology ofthe planet.
What makes any discussion about water complicated is that it carries multiple
economic,legal,political,andculturalvalues.Waterisapublicgood;attimes,itis
aprivategood;itisoftenaresourceheldincommon.Accesstowaterandsanitation
isahumanright.Insomecases,waterissubjecttopublictrust,inotherstoprivate
ownership.Itsmostcomplicatedattributeisitsdelivery,whichhasverylittletodo
with the substance itself. And protection from excessive quantities of water is
likewise essential. A society’s water security is a product of its landscape, infras-
tructure,andinstitutions.Becausetheimpactofchoicesaboutthesekeyissuesmay
lastoverlongperiodsoftime,oftenoutlivinggenerations,culturalvalues,andeven
economic systems, the historical record is not simply instrumental to our under-
standing of how water issues have evolved over time: it is an essential component
of the architecture societies used to manage water, whether they realize it or not.
Framing water as heritage defines it as an object of study and positions it for
preservation.
Adaptive Strategies to Water Heritage is a welcome addition to the growing
literature on the world’s water heritage. The broad scope of the papers in this
volumereflectsthepervasivenessofwater-relatedissuesacrosssocieties,aswellas
theuniversalityofsolutions.Themethodological heterogeneityitembraces, which
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liesattheboundaryofconservationpractice,historicalanalysis,anthropology,and
sociology, accurately reflects the multi-disciplinary nature of the issue.
The relationship between society and its water landscape is dialectical and
deeplycontextual.Wrestlingwithit,examiningittounderstandourwaterpast,and
recognizing its role in defining our present are essential to preparing for what isto
come.
Giulio Boccaletti
ChiefStrategyOfficerandGlobalManagingDirector
for Water, The Nature Conservancy
London, United Kingdom
Giulio Boccalettiis the Chief Strategy Officer and Global Managing Director for Water at The
Nature Conservancy. He has been an academic and an executive in the private sector, and has
spentthelastfifteenyearsworkingonwaterissuesattheintersectionofpublicpolicy,economic
strategy,andtheenvironment.HeisamemberoftheWorldEconomicForum’sGlobalFutures
CouncilonEnvironmentandNaturalResourceSecurity.
Foreword by Henk Ovink
The future is rapidly changing, the present is in high-speed transition, and com-
plexity is increasing every day. Complexity is in the challenges we face, in their
interdependenceacrosspoliticalboundaries,inthesystems—environmental,social,
and economic—we use to organize ourselves, and our personal interests.
Challengesareatalllevelsexacerbatedbyclimatechange,increasinglyandalways
worse every day, every year. If we add up the numbers, the future looks bleak:
every year a new record in rains, droughts, floods, migrants, economic, environ-
mental, and humanitarian destruction and despair. More deaths, conflicts, extreme
events,anddollarslost.Theseextremesbecomemoreandmoreextremeandimpact
ontheworld’svulnerableplacesevermoreharshly.Thefutureishere,groundedin
the past. Can we learn from the past to help us tackle our future?
Learningfromthepast—soeasilysaid,sohardtodo.Itistemptingtolookback
to the past and simplify the world, to imagine that things were once simple and
focused. This is where populism looms, in its nostalgic longing to control, to
surveil,toquashdisturbingsurprises.Butlookingbackandsimplifyingdonotgive
usaclearpictureofhistory,noranhonestperspectiveonourfuture.Learningfrom
the past does not mean we only look back, but that we also look ahead. Using
history and our capacity to understand, we learn to value the past. History is the
brokerbetweenusandthepast,ouraidaswetrytoexploreandexploitthatpast,to
use it to help us leapfrog into the future. We need an equal, just, and sustainable
societythattakescareoftheplanet,ofeverythingandeveryone,andleavesbehind
no one. The UN Agenda 2030 sketches out this path forward, littered with chal-
lenges and barriers—none of which is easy to overcome. We will have to reinvent
ourselves a multitude of times. Yet, this change can only come when we, collec-
tively, embrace the past as a perspective on the future.
Learningfromthehistoryofwaterisoneofthemostamazingjourneysonecan
take: To see, to know, the course of the river, a drop of water, humankind’s
inventions and interventions for managing water in nature and in our cities.
Amazingdeltasdottedtheplanet,mitigatingwaterextremeslongbeforewehadto
learn the words climate change. For centuries before the ecological crisis,
water-wise and water-rich cities proliferated, where water was an equal partner,
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where it was celebrated and valued. It is this capacity of water to unite, to bring
together the multiple values of society—environmental, economic, social, and
cultural—that stands out as an inspiration to us to understand the past in order to
learnforthefuture.Valuingwatermeansbringingtogetherallintereststhathaveto
dowithwater.Itmeansembracingallpartnersandtheirperspectives,protectingall
our sources, building trust and capacity, learning and empowering, innovating,
testing, and investing.
The interdependencies and complexities of climate change demand a compre-
hensive approach, cutting through silos, vested interests, and political positions.
Our planet, our cities, our built systems have all the core values and principles of
complexity we need. But, gradually, we have lost track of these. Our growing
demand led us to abandon our growing capacity to learn, to look back while
stepping ahead. Rethinking the future through the past can help us reinvent our-
selves and our systems, restore our core values, and build a just, equal, and sus-
tainablesociety.Valuesdrawnfromwater,fromnature,andfromcultureintertwine
with our capacity to understand this complexity, allow us to strengthen the rela-
tionships between our environmental, societal, and economic systems, and build
upon them. Leaving behind our stubborn convictions, we reach to an adaptive,
flexible,sustainable,andever-changingwayforward.Un-certaintyisourcertainty,
new extremes are the new normal, and changing interventions for the future, not
failed repetitions of the past, are the road ahead.
We have no time to waste. The future is here. We can change, collectively, if
only we learn toconnect thepast with thefuture,embraceand exploit complexity,
live and work together, and act now.
Henk Ovink
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
HenkOvinkisSpecialEnvoyforInternationalWaterAffairsfortheNetherlandsandSherpato
the UN High-Level Panel on Water. He advocates for water awareness and builds coalitions to
initiate transformative interventions, most recently in his newinitiative, Water as Leverage. His
bookTooBig.RebuildbyDesign:ATransformativeApproachtoClimateChangereportsonhis
post-HurricaneSandyrecoverywork.
Foreword by Diederik Six and and Henk van
Schaik
Thebluemarblephotograph,takenin1972bytheApollo17astronauts,showsEarth
—our four-billion-year-old planet—floating in the void of space, its most striking
feature,theomnipresentblueofwater.Onourplanet,waterisLife.Waterisafriend
andfoeoflife.FromthisLife,humanbeingsemergedinAfricaabout200,000years
ago, initiating agriculture and water management activities, thereby increasing the
production offood, providing water services, and reducing the vulnerability of set-
tlementstotheperilsofdroughtandflood.Watermanagementinnovationsspanned
the gamut of activity: structural, tangible measures such as reservoirs and dams;
organizational arrangements for developing and operating structures; and intangible
cultural–spiritual–ethical–ritual meanings and practices. These material, conceptual,
andspiritualconnectionsinwatermanagementmadeitpossibleforcitiestodevelop
in Mesopotamia and the Indus valley as well as along the banks of the Nile and
China’s rivers. Today, the remnants of ancient water cultures are found on every
continent. Archeological and anthropological research tells us about these ancient
water cultures, these origins of our present cultural identities.
The Industrial Revolution, largely made possible by abundant natural resources,
including water, brought to human life an unprecedented growth of population, life
expectancy, and economies. Despite our resources and our vast experience with water
management, however, since the 1970s, we have come to realize the limits to this
heralded growth. The over-exploitation of natural resources, irreversible pollution, and
climatechangeallthreatenbiodiversity,fossilfuels,thewatercycle,andtheplanetitself.
Since2012,ICOMOSNetherlandshasbeenexploringwhatcanbelearnedfrom
water-related heritage rooted in culture and nature. What insights can we derive
fromancientwaterstructuressuchasthedamsoftheMiddleEastortheqanatsof
arid regions? governance arrangements such as the water boards of the
Netherlands? or, the ethico-spiritual frameworks of those of the Incas? How can
these varied forms of water-related heritage teach and inspire future planners,
architects, politicians, design engineers, and others as they address present and
future water-related challenges? It is relatively easy to point to water-related
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heritage as a source of inspiration for innovation and creativity. In practice, how-
ever, this claim needs and must be held to scientific validation and specification
through practical and illustrative cases—aswellas to methodological guidance for
policy makers, planners, designers, and training programs.
This publication addresses that need. It presents twenty-one chapters on
water-related heritage that encompass a broad spectrum of theoretical and
methodologicalapproachesandstudiesofwater-relatedheritagefromarangeofthe
world’s regions. It contributes to the ongoing dialogue on water and heritage
between policy makers, scientists, civil society, and spiritual leaders. The case
studies it presents bridge the divides between the scientific disciplines of engi-
neering, architecture, history, archeology, anthropology, and theology.
It is our hope that this publication will also make decision makers and citizens
moreawareoftheimportanceofwater-relatedheritageforthefuture.Wealsohope
that it will contribute to the work of the International Scientific Committee at
ICOMOS and to the recognition of Water and Cultural Heritage in both the Water
Agenda and the Water Goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda.
Inthisspirit,wethanktheeditorandauthorsfortheircommitmenttothisproject
aswellasfortheirperseveranceinhighlightingtheimportanceofhumanity’swater
heritagetothefuture.Welookforwardtocontinuingtoworkwiththemtoestablish
a concerted, global effort for water-related cultural heritage that is locally and
globally acknowledged as a source of inspiration and information for the future.
Jhr. Ir. Diederik Six
President, ICOMOS Netherlands
Doorn, The Netherlands
Ir. Henk van Schaik
Ambassador Water and Heritage
ICOMOS Netherlands
Wageningen, The Netherlands