The article ‘Intangible Heritage to Strengthen Local Water Management’ explores the role of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in reducing biodiversity loss and water shortages due to climate change, focusing on local water management.
It argues that certain forms of living heritage contain valuable knowledge and practices serving as adaptive strategies in a changing environment. By connecting practitioners to specific places and each other, bridging the past and future generations, ICH can bring local knowledge and experience into the field.
Examples, such as grassland irrigation, water milling, and hedge-laying, illustrate traditional practices reintroduced for their potential role in water management and creating a climate-resilient landscape. However, the article emphasizes that the valuable insights of ‘citizen scientists’ using these traditional techniques are often overlooked by policymakers and academics.
The article is written by Dr. Jet Bakels and Dr. Chantal Bisschop and can be downloaded from the website bluepapers.nl or on this page.