The Global Network of Water Museums is a flagship initiative endorsed by the Council of UNESCO-IHP (Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme)

14th General Assembly of the Global Network of Water Museums

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October 11, 2024

The 14th General Assembly of the Global Network of Water Museums took place during the 5th Conference of the Global Network of Water Museums, titled "Cities of water - Peace and Prosperity through Water sustainability Education", held in Porto, Portugal, from the 9th to the 11th of October 2024. 

Programme

Chair: Eddy Moors (President of WAMU-NET and Rector of IHE Delft, the Netherlands)

PART 1: Projects and opportunities for networking: Building Cultural Bridges through Water Museums
- Javier Taks (UNESCO Chair ‘Water and Culture’, Udelar, Uruguay): Book announcement ‘A guide to water museums in Latin America and the Caribbean’ (in cooperation with the UNESCO PHI Regional Office, Montevideo)
- Karl M. Wantzen (UNESCO Chair ‘Rivers and Heritage’, University of Strasbourg, France): Book presentation ‘Life as a Dance to the Rhythm of Waters’. A UNESCO study on biocultural diversity in the world’s riverscapes
- Margarita Maruškić Kulaš, Ivana Kaleb Vuletić, and Eriberto Eulisse (‘CREDIT’ project): ‘AQUAPLAY’ - a new educational tool for online colouring on WAMU-NET website. Presentation of the MoU with different WAMU-NET members
- Sandra de Vries, Gabriela Costea and Pippa de Kinder (‘Danube4all’ project): The Healthy Danube Network - Share and Co-create Exhibitions and Citizen Science Methods
- Yixin Cao (University of Lyon, France): A survey on human-river relationships through museums
- Sara Ahmed and Amitangshu Acharya (‘Aquamuse’ project): Reimagining Water Museums

PART 2: Signing of Partner Agreements
- Manuel Sapiano (The Energy & Water Agency, Malta) and Osvaldo Martinez Torres (Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidraulicos, Cuba): Signing of the MoU between the Ghajn Interpretive Centre, Malta, and the Albear Aqueduct Museum, La Habana, Cuba.
- Javadianzadeh Mohammadmahdi (ICQHS UNESCO Cat.2 Centre, Yazd, Iran) and Raffaele Iovine (‘Lapis’ Water Museum, Naples, Italy): Signing of the MoU between the Yazd Water Museum, Iran, and the Water Museum of Naples ‘Lapis’, Italy.
- Signature of MoUs ‘AQUAPLAY’ (between WAMU-NET and different members)

PART 3: Contributions from WAMU-NET members and open debate
Chairs: Gisela Herrerias (Deputy President of WAMU-NET and Director of the Water Museum ‘Agua Para Siempre’, Puebla, Mexico), Francisco Almenar Cubells (Water Tribunal of Valencia, Spain) and Eriberto Eulisse (Executive Director of WAMU-NET, Italy)
- Rashad Salim and Hannah Lewis (Open Museum Initiative for Water Culture; Basra, Iraq)
- Liliana Pena Naval (Brazilian Water Museum, Tocantins, Brazil)
- Evelyn Arias Garriga, Yanet Morales Mesa, and José Antonio Yanez Balbuena (Albear Aqueduct Museum, La Habana, Cuba)
- Margarita Maruškić Kulaš and Ivana Kaleb Vuletić (AQUATIKA, Karlovac, Croatia)
- Alessandro Capati (Multimedia Museum of the Marmore Waterfalls, Terni, Italy)
- Alassane Samoura (Musée de l’Eau, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)

COMMUNICATIONS FROM NEW MEMBERS
- Rosso Rogerio, Raimundo Ribeiro, Vinícius Benevides, Felix Palazzo, and Apolinário Rebelo (International Water Memorial MINA, ADASA, Brasilia, Brazil)
- Daniel Manyaka (Musée de l’Eau Siga-Bonjo, Cameroun)
- Alioune Dème and Ornella Tchanque Kanda Leni (Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal)
- Anna Brusarosco (University of Udine, Italy)
- Claude Frangin (L’Eau à Lyon et la Pompe de Cornouailles, France)
- Gianfranco Brivio (Ecomuseum ‘Adda di Leonardo’, Milano, Italy)
- Raffaele Iovine, Pina Ciotola and Ivan Varriale (‘Lapis’ Water Museum, Naples, Italy)
- Michelle Boyle (artist, Ireland)

REPORT on interviews for the Blue Papers: Water and Heritage for Sustainable Development
Carlien Donkor, Matteo D’Agostino and Foteini Tsigoni (UNESCO Chair, TU Delft)

OPEN DEBATE and Q&A
- Jianping Wang (Yellow River Museum, China)
- Leordan Loredana (Aquatim Water Museum Timisoara, Romania)
- Javier Rodes (Museos de Mequinenza, Mequinenza, Spain)
- Šárka Jiroušková (Historical Wastewater Treatment Plant, Prague, Czech Republic)
- Deirdre Crowe (Water Museum of Ireland)
- Ron Karels and Hugo Snabilie (Broekerveiling Water Museum, the Netherlands)
- Raul Hernandez Garciadiego (Water Museum ‘Agua Para Siempre’, Puebla, Mexico)

CONFERENCE CONCLUSIONS: WAMU-NET’s contribution to IHP Phase 9 and to the Water Agenda 2030
- Eddy Moors (President of WAMU-NET and Rector of IHE Delft, the Netherlands)
- Filipe Araújo (President of Águas e Energia do Porto, Portugal)