Call for contributions - Water, Heritage & Climate Mitigation/Adaptation: Connecting Past Knowledge & Future Resilience

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Malaysia 2026 poster socials

The ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Water and Heritage (ISC Water) proposes to co-organize three official side events and symposia in partnership with affinity organizations and partners, including ICOMOS Malaysia, ICOMOS Türkiye, the ICOMOS SDG Working Group, the ICOMOS Climate Action Working Group, the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, the Politecnico di Milano WatHer Project, Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Reading, the World Monuments Fund, the Future Food Institute, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems programme, and Wageningen University (list in formation). These events will take place alongside the 2026 ICOMOS General Assembly (Kuching, Malaysia), COP31 (Antalya, Türkiye), and the UN Water Conference (Abu Dhabi, UAE). The symposia and side events are expected to take place in close proximity to the conference venues and will be held either in person or in a hybrid format (in-person attendance with remote access).

These events will build upon the momentum established by the Water Heritage and Culture: Past, Present, Future side events at the 2023 Water Action Decade Midterm Review in New York; the 2024 Pune Scientific Symposium; the 2025 Montepaldi Scientific Symposium; the 2026 UN ECOSOC Partnership Forum SDG 6 Action Segment Panel; the 2026 Venice Climate Week; the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Busan; and the 2026 Future Food Institute's Planet Aqua, Planet Peace events during New York Climate Week.

The theme of the proposed 2026 symposia and side events, "Water, Heritage & Climate Mitigation/Adaptation: Connecting Past Knowledge & Future Resilience," will catalyse strategic and action-oriented dialogue on the resilience and cost-effectiveness of traditional water management systems; the need to include these systems in water and land management policies; their role as instruments for peacebuilding; and how these systems and stewardship practices can help meet present and future water needs.

Water connects people, landscapes, ecosystems, and cultures—it gives and sustains life. Communities around the world have developed traditional water management systems to cope with changing climates, water scarcity, and flooding, while managing water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use. Inspiring examples include terraced irrigation, aflaj, karez, khettaras, qanats, water meadows, rainwater harvesting, and associated governance and stewardship practices.

These traditional water management systems represent embodied carbon, centuries or even millennia of accumulated knowledge, social cooperation, traditional land management, regenerative food production, environmental adaptation, and resilience. Despite these achievements, the authenticity, integrity, and continued use of historic water-related tangible and intangible heritage are increasingly threatened by demographic change, socio-economic pressures, climate change, and environmental degradation.

These threats may be mitigated for UNESCO World Heritage sites through income generated by heritage tourism. However, communities that rely on non-designated heritage are often left vulnerable to market forces, resulting in water and food insecurity, loss of cultural landscapes, disappearance of traditional water and land management systems, biodiversity loss, and erosion of Indigenous knowledge and stewardship practices.

Water-related heritage is also vulnerable because it remains largely absent from the UN Water agenda. ISC Water therefore calls for the reassessment of historic water-related tangible and intangible heritage as living assets that sustain livelihoods and are essential for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, while helping to address climate change, demographic shifts, and the growing global water crisis. ISC Water advocates recognising the combined engineering, cultural, socio-economic, and environmental significance of water-related heritage in ensuring water safety and water security for communities, ecosystems, and fragile cultural landscapes.

 

ICOMOS General Assembly side event

Co-organized by ICOMOS Malaysia and ISC Water and Heritage, this event will include a scientific symposium and the ISC Water Annual General Meeting. The symposium will focus on traditional water and land management systems, socio-economic livelihoods, and climate adaptation and mitigation. The AGM will include updates on ISC Water activities and its working groups.

 

COP31 side event

Co-organized by ICOMOS Türkiye, the Climate Action Working Group, ISC Cultural Landscapes, the Rights-Based Approaches Working Group, the Sustainable Development Goals Working Group, ISC Risk Preparedness, the ICOMOS Transhumance Initiative, ISC Water, and Heritage Adapts!, this session, "Water, Heritage and Climate: Connecting Past Knowledge with Future Resilience," will highlight how traditional water management systems and stewardship practices contribute to climate adaptation and mitigation.

 

UN Water Conference side event

Co-organized by the ICOMOS SDG Working Group, ISC Water, the Climate Action Working Group, Sapienza University of Rome, the Future Food Institute, the World Monuments Fund, and others (list in formation), this event will focus on accelerating progress towards SDG 6.

Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) is essential for the success of the 2030 Agenda. As the international community enters the final five years of implementation, investment, innovation, and political commitment must accelerate. ISC Water therefore calls for renewed investment in traditional water management systems as cost-effective, climate-resilient solutions that support livelihoods, peace, prosperity, and food and water security.

The event will also include discussions on preparing a joint policy paper, as well as a statement and set of commitments with implementation recommendations.

 

Objectives

The side events and symposia aim to:

  • Launch the International Water, Heritage and Culture Platform (IWHCP).
  • Highlight the contribution of traditional water management systems to achieving SDG 6.
  • Strengthen the role of water-related heritage in global water policy and governance.

The proposed platform will bridge science and policy by connecting evidence-based knowledge on traditional water management with local governance, policymakers, and civil society. It will demonstrate that conserving water-related heritage can be both economically viable and socially beneficial.

We particularly encourage submissions from emerging professionals, Indigenous communities, local practitioners, scholars from underrepresented regions and hydrological systems, and those involved in transferring stewardship knowledge to younger generations.

 

Themes

The side events and symposia will address topics including:

  • Traditional water and land management system rehabilitation and cyclical maintenance
  • Climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience through water-related heritage
  • Terraced agriculture and mountain irrigation systems
  • Qanats, khettaras, aflaj, karez, foggaras, and other arid-region water systems
  • Floodplains, water meadows, and wetland management systems
  • Coastal, delta, riverine, and lagoon cultural landscapes
  • Riverine settlements and waterfront heritage
  • Traditional fisheries and aquatic livelihoods
  • Rainwater harvesting traditions
  • Historic waterways, canals, and ports
  • Water governance, institutions, management, and policy frameworks
  • Indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge and stewardship practices
  • Water rituals, beliefs, and spiritual dimensions of water
  • Youth and empowering the next generation of water managers
  • Water heritage and regenerative food systems
  • Methodologies for assessing water heritage values

  • Community participation, including youth, gender, and living heritage approaches

     

Important information and dates

  • Submission email: icomoswaterabstractsposters@gmail.com
  • Please indicate in the subject line which event you wish to participate in.
  • Abstract submission deadline: 15 August
  • Notification of acceptance: 15 September

  • Submission of final materials: 15 January 2027

     

Contribution formats

  • Oral presentation: 15-minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of discussion.
  • Poster presentation: For scholarly discussion and networking.

  • Hybrid participation: On-site or pre-recorded presentations. Pre-recorded contributions will receive equal consideration and will be integrated into the symposium programme and proceedings.

     

Abstract submissions should include

  • Title
  • Author(s) and affiliation(s)
  • Presentation preference (oral and/or poster)
  • Attendance preference (in person or online)
  • Abstract (maximum 300 words)
  • Five keywords
  • Email address and postal address

Proceedings: Accepted abstracts will be considered for publication in an online proceedings volume.