Water Values Past, Present and Future: “Blue Papers” as a new publication form

Inaugural lecture by Carola Hein, Professor, 2024-2025 Paris IAS Fellow, holder of the “Water and Heritage” Research Chair, organized by Olivier Aïm (Observatoire des Patrimoines Alliance Sorbonne Université - OPUS and CELSA) and Valérie Jeanne-Perrier (CELSA Journalisme).

Presentation

Water in all its forms is key to human survival and well-being. Humans have created intricate and ingenious solutions to survive and thrive in difficult and complex territories, and adapt to changes in social and environmental conditions. Remnants of past practices, structures and objects are still with us – in the built environment, in our institutions, in our ways of living and in our languages. As emphasized in the UNESCO Thematic Indicators for Culture in the 2030 Agenda, culture is an important part of the Goals and Targets of the 2030 United Nations’ Agenda for Sustainable Development. Stand-alone technological interventions cannot solve the complexities of the social, cultural and economic implications of climate change in the long term. New solutions require the engagement of local interested parties and local knowledge to address social and cultural dimensions of water and to create a new embedded water awareness in the built environment, in institutions and culture(s), so that we can preserve and protect our heritage, understand and learn from the past, and activate history and heritage for future sustainable and inclusive living.
The biannual peer-reviewed journal Blue Papers explores the complex relationship between water, culture and heritage to assess lessons from the past, to protect heritage sites, to make use of water heritage and to contribute to the development of inclusive and sustainable future water systems. The past can help build a new platform for awareness of water and heritage, which involves shared methodologies and terminologies, policies and tools that bridge disparate fields and disciplines. How can create new platforms, tools, methods, and ways of working to create a more sustainable future acknowledging and building on the ecosystems of the past, overcoming path dependencies and protecting our heritage.

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