The European WaVE Interreg project is drawing to a close.

The Interreg European Project WaVE, which stands for Water-linked heritage Valorization by developing an Ecosystemic approach, is coming to an end.

The project focuses on the improvement of regional and local policies to open up their possibilities for supporting the development of integrated adaptive reuses of water-linked cultural heritage sites in human settlements.

WaVE goal is to improve the overall support by the addressed policy instruments for integrated valorisation approaches of cultural heritage and to spark ideas for the creation of new projects aiming at integrated valorisation of water-linked cultural heritage, in order to raise awareness for the subject in other cities and regions in Europe.

The final WaVE conference, which will be held in Alicante, May 10-12, will bring together all the project partners to discuss the results obtained by the actions undertaken.

Special focus will be given to the transfer of WaVE learnings to the project of the Green Corridor of River Monnegre in Alicante, in order to accelerate policy change.

During the morning of May 11 a workshop will be held in Casa Mediterraneo in Alicante on the key themes of WaVE, its Manifesto and how to transfer the results to the specific Spanish case.

AGENDA

The partners and project leaders will explore the following themes:

  • 09:00 – 09:30 Meeting opening
  • Deputy Major of Breda (NL)
  • Deputy Major of Turism Ravenna (IT)
  • Prof. Melgarejo - Water Chair. DPA-UA
  • 09:30 – 10:30 Presentations
  • Hans Thoolen - Project Coordinator
  • Adriaan Geuze - West 8
  • Marcin Drabrowski - TU Delft NL. WaVE Manifesto
  • Vincenzo Capocasale - Representative of Interreg Europe Programme
  • 10:45 – 13:45 Workshop

Each PP does a brief presentation about a key WaVE topic, from the point of view of their local experience, that will be followed by a short discussion in plenary.

  • • Storytelling and tangible/intangible heritage - Ister Granum
  • • Placemaking - Aarhus
  • • Water as an integrator - Alicante
  • • Climate change and heritage regeneration - Breda
  • • Digital tools for heritage enhancement and citizen engagement - Ravenna

 DOWNLOAD THE FULL AGENDA

The final conference take place in the second week of May in Alicante partly because other events related to water and heritage will be held:

  • a conference on Mediterranean Mills
  • the MED_NET working group meeting on landscape diversity, organized by the International Federation of European Landscape Architects (IFLA Europe) and the Asociación Española de Paisajistas (AEP).
  • the Citizen Conference of TERRA Project on the cultural landscape of the Huerta de Alicante, a circular itinerary through the towers of the Huerta, along with other recreational and cultural activities for all citizens.

As the WaVE Manifesto states: “Water and related heritage have always played a very special role in European cities and regions. Historic water infrastructure, such as bridges, docks and waterfronts, harbor structures, locks, dams, or watermills, specific water-based urban and rural landscapes, but also the intangible aspects of water-related heritage, such as water management knowledge, values, and traditions, can provide a solid basis for an ecosystem approach to sustainable urban and regional development.

Water-related heritage is unique in this regard because it links environmental, economic, and social domains, reflecting the three pillars of sustainability.

It can be a powerful vector for change in cities and regions that allows them to build on the practices and structures of the past to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

The Manifesto is based on the experience of the WaVE project and its five sites-Breda, Alicante, Aarhus, Ravenna, and the Ister-Granum Euroregion-to draw lessons about the potential of water-related heritage to drive urban and regional ecosystem transformations and to outline a manifesto for the future of this heritage”.

A future that all WaVE project partners hope to have made more sustainable.

>>> Read here the PDf version