International Conference Ancestral Hydrotechnologies as a Response to Climate, Health and Food Emergencies

50 specialists from 21 countries and different fields of knowledge, will meet in Barcelona, from 16 to 17 February 2023, in the International Conference "Ancestral Hydro-technologies as a Response to Climate, Health and Food Emergencies. Good Practices in the Mediterranean and in Latin America and the Caribbean”.

Download the Final Programme: Here

Register: Here

Press Release: Here

29 good practices will be presented on the hybrid conference (virtual and in person, at Campus Nord UPC, Barcelona), that will bring together water professionals, water institutions, national and local authorities and academia to discuss the potential of ancestral hydro-technologies as integrated solutions for adaptation and transformation of the territories. The conclusions and recommendations of the conference will contribute to the development of a collaborative program of education and specific training on these technologies and the development of projects to enhance and preserve several pilot cases in the region.

The conference is hosted by the UNESCO Chair on Sustainability of the Polytechnical University of Catalonia (UPC) and co-convened by the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO and the Global Network of Water Museums (a flagship Initiative of UNESCO-IHP). It is supported by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITERD) of Spain, the Dept. of External Action of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Barcelona City Council and MedCites.

Conference Programme

Throughout history, ancestral civilizations designed and built sophisticated water systems based on the natural hydrological cycle. These "Hydrotechnologies" provided an adaptive response to cope with issues such as water conservation, irrigation or flood and drought control, but also with biodiversity conservation and local/regional sustainable development. Good examples of this type of systems, some of them still in use today, can be found all over the world: the Zenú Channels or "camellones" in Colombia, the Incas Hydraulic Wonders in Peru and the Persian Qanat in Iran, to name a few.

These ancestral Hydro-technologies can be analyzed from a present-day viewpoint to assess their viability as appropriate technologies in a global climate, health and food emergency context. If properly managed, these technologies could become an effective solution for adaptation and inclusion as multifunctional tools for diffuse pollution management, food and health security, flood and drought control, ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation and economic development, among others.

The conference is aimed at directors, technical specialists and local water managers, university professors and students, researchers from public institutions responsible for providing drinking water to the population, managing and researching water resources, forests, agriculture and protected natural areas and as well as members of communities with ancestral hydro-technologies in their territory.