|
World Water Day 2006: Water and Culture Join the movement for action around the World Water Day, 22 March of each year Each year, a different
United Nations (UN) agency is selected to coordinate events surrounding
World Water Day (WWD) around the world, and a different theme is chosen
to reflect the many facets of freshwater resources. World Water Day
2006 will be guided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) under the theme 'Water and Culture.
We
plan our cities near water; we bathe in water; we play in water; we
work with water. Our economies are built on the strength of water transportation
- and the products we buy and sell are all partly water, in one way
or another. Our daily lives are built on water, and shaped by it. Without
the water that surrounds us - the humidity of the air, the roughness
of the river's current, the flow from the kitchen tap - our lives would
be impossible. In recent decades, water has fallen in our esteem. No
longer an element to be revered and protected, it is a consumer product
that we have shamefully neglected. Eighty percent of our bodies are
formed of water, and two thirds of the planet's surface is covered by
water: water is our culture, our life.
The theme 'Water and Culture' of WWD 2006 draws attention to the fact that there are as many ways of viewing, using, and celebrating water as there are cultural traditions across the world. Sacred, water is at the heart of many religions and is used in different rites and ceremonies. Fascinating and ephemeral, water has been represented in art for centuries - in music, painting, writing, cinema - and it is an essential factor in many scientific endeavours as well. Each region of the world has a different way of holding water sacred, but each recognizes its value, and its central place in human lives. Cultural traditions, indigenous practices, and societal values determine how people perceive and manage water in the world's different regions. As the UN's focal point for the promotion of cultural diversity, UNESCO aims to preserve and respect the specificity of each culture, bringing them all together and extending them in a more interactive and interdependent world. http://www.unesco.org/water/wwd2006/
|
'Due
to its fundamental role in society's life, water has a strong cultural
dimension. Without understanding and considering the cultural aspects
of our water problems, no sustainable solution can be found.' |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|