Children mobilised to defend precious water heritage

School children between the ages of 10 and 15 are being mobilised for the safeguard of water heritage in the Mediterranean through an Educational Programme implemented by the EU-funded REMEE project.

 

REMEE (Rediscovering Together the Water Heritage in the Mediterranean), a project under the EuroMed Heritage IVprogramme, has initiated ‘Young Actors for Water Heritage' during the 2009/10 school year. It will see experts initiate children in six Mediterranean countries - Algeria, France, Greece, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey - to discover their water heritage and learn about the issues related to the management of this resource.

 

The programme will involve about 100 pupils in each country in classroom and field activities. At the end of the programme, they will prepare an exhibition of their work in order to share their knowledge with their families and the broader public in their area. 

 

Themes to be tackled include: built heritage (mills, fountains, draining galleries, tanks, karsts, etc.); traditional skills and techniques for the management of water resources (irrigation and conservation methods, traditional fishing, etc.); and various oral traditions (tales, songs, languages, expressions, toponymy...) associated with water both in farming and in urban centres. 

 

A press release described the initiative as a good entry point to educate children on the environment, the economical stakes involved, and issues related to the sustainable development of the territory. 

 

EuroMed Heritage IV is a €17 million EU-funded programme which contributes to the exchange of experiences on cultural heritage, creates networks and promotes cooperation with the Mediterranean Partner Countries. It focuses on the appropriation by the local populations of their cultural heritage and favours access to education and knowledge of cultural heritage. It supports a framework for the exchange of experiences, channels for the dissemination of best practices and new perspectives aimed at the development of an institutional cultural environment. (ENPI Info Centre)