22 March - World Water Day 2006: Water and Culture
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Ankor Vat, Cambodia,
© UNESCO - G. Malempré |
Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage is an irreplaceable source of life and inspiration. Places as unique and diverse as the wilderness of East Africa's Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Baroque cathedrals of Latin America make up our world's heritage. What makes the concept of world heritage exceptional is its universal application: world heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world.
As a central element of societies' ways of life, livelihoods, settlements and traditions, water has affected not only local lives, but also the very shape of the world in which we live. The current of rivers and streams, and their interaction with mountains, valleys, plains and shores, created Earth's landscapes. Water also shapes our heritage, uniting us through architecture, recreational facilities, art and more.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...
Water: shaping our world
From the earliest times, water has played a key role in shaping how our lives are structured and how we move.
Water: shaping our social lives
Just as water shapes the world we live in and our natural and cultural heritage, so too does it inform how we live our lives. Since early times, water has been central to social life, bringing people together at public baths and fountains, in public and private rituals and through day-to-day activities, such as washing clothes.
Water and traditional knowledge
There are as many water practices as there are cultures around the world - they number in the thousands, if not millions. Passed down from generation to generation, some practices eventually become part of the common consciousness, but many do not, and are preserved within their culture of origin, there for the sharing.
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UNESCO.ORG
