EUWATHER

Water networks have been integral to the expansion of urban centres and the development and expansion of trade, thus also interacting with flood control strategies and the construction and maintenance of rural landscapes. There has been a long history of artistic and cultural representation of these waterways, and the life that they have brought to their surrounding landscapes. This is in danger of being lost. In this post-industrial age it is therefore necessary to develop new, more coordinated, strategies to promote memory and identity of river cultures, linking institutional activities and encouraging the exchange of experiences. The presence in many European countries of artificial waterways and connected natural hydrography can thus be considered a significant cultural heritage. Characterized by an intrinsic hydraulic complexity, this heritage goes back far in time at least to the Middle Ages, develops further during the Renaissance and reaches its maturity during the industrial era. In some cases, this hydraulic network is already a tourist attraction; in other cases, it has a hidden potential for sustainable development. Such a precious, historic heritage deserves today a renewed, coordinated commitment to its re-evaluation, by considering both the structural heritage of the waterways (canals, bridges, locks, shipyards, mills, quays) and the artistic and cultural artefacts that are now in peril (artistic and cultural interpretations of river life, traditional wooden boats and other crafts).
The research will be undertaken from a multi-disciplinary perspective, involving teams from the University of Brighton (UK), University Ca Foscari Venice (Italy), the University of Leiden and the Free University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and the University of Gerona (Spain). The project will bring cultural geography into conversation with art history, oral history, digital media and design. In the contexts of geography and spatial planning, discourses about the cultural-historical dimensions of landscape are elaborate and on-going, particularly in the field of cultural geography. At the same time, in the humanities - for example in the research field of 'ecocriticism' - a growing interest in ecological concerns is being expressed by artists and writers. From the diverse disciplines of geography, spatial planning and the humanities, there is thus clearly a need to research how (both historical and contemporary) cultural heritage can contribute to our knowledge about land and waterscapes. Allied to this is a broad wish to explore the new opportunities offered by digital media to record, represent and interpret cultural heritage, particularly where it engages with often hidden secondary and essentially local communities and their environments. This project aims to develop these theoretical discussions and to elaborate - beyond theory and at the same time developing theory further - concrete tools in which both oral history and cultural heritage information are linked to geospatial information that can be shared with the communities that created the content, as well as the wider public, government agencies and other bodies who share a stake in the future of Europe's rich heritage of secondary waterways and associated waterscapes.

The potential impact of the EUWATHER project outcomes includes:
- A new digital tool to make a database on waterways cultural heritage easily accessible to private entrepreneurs in river tourism, to public/private institutions devoted to environmental education, to open air and other museums, and to rural tourism networks, particularly those involving hikers and cyclists.
- Support for institutional (both local and national) activities concerning diagnostics, conservation, recovery and digitisation of both tangible and intangible waterscape assets.
- Stimulating major co-ordination, co-operative and co-designed activities that involve local communities, public institutions and private bodies involved in secondary rivers and historic canals management.

To ensure that the full impact of the project is achieved, a number of Associated Partners (APs) have agreed to participate in the project, using their specific expertise to guide and complement the research, as well as providing access to the waterscapes themselves. They will also ensure that the full social and economic impacts of the project are distributed across the four partner countries and beyond. In the case of the UK, the Canal & River Trust (CRT) has a long standing expertise in managing, restoring and fostering the social uses of waterways. The CRT wishes to work with the research team to implement a new approach to co-designed community engagement. This will be used to identify and evaluate new approaches to the development and management of under-used urban canals in Greater Manchester. It is expected that the impacts of this work will be both social (better amenity, recreation and health impacts) and economic (more user fees). In the Netherlands, the involvement of Waterrecreatie Nederland is crucial to ensure that the project addresses new tourism and recreational opportunities, to supplement the work that Waterrecreatie Nederland has been undertaking in the last decades. The Italian AP (the Consorzio di Bonifica Acque Risorgive, Reclamation Land Syndicate) is experienced in the management of secondary hydrography with particular reference to river restoration and the establishment of good ecological standards - a crucial goal of the EU Water Framework Directive. The impact for this partner will be in implementing new approaches to community engagement, which will allow it to develop a better understanding of the potential of using an ecosystem services approach to its resource management activities. The Spanish AP (the Euro-Mediterranean Tourism and Water Campus) is experienced in developing interactions between universities and private companies with the goal of encouraging water based tourism along minor rivers and canals. The research will provide new insights and methods that can help develop this work. None of the Associated Partners is equipped individually to undertake extended research into complex subjects such as the social, cultural, environment and economic development of their waterway assets. Instead, they rely very often on work with local volunteers and others. In this sense the expected impact of the project on the Associate Partners is substantial.