Inland Waterways International
Campaigning for inland waterways since 1995
IWI is an international organisation established in 1992 to bring together people and organisations that support the worldwide conservation, use, development and appropriate management and promotion of inland waterways. We are guided by a succinct set of five core principles.
We raise public awareness of the benefits of using waterways for a wide range of activities, from inland water transport to cruising, walking, cycling and other recreational uses, as well as appreciating their landscape and architectural heritage. We also promote appropriate restoration and regeneration of waterways that have become derelict.
Our work is achieved through a broad membership, whose diverse skills and interests are of enormous benefit to what we do. Please join us.
Robin Evans, first CEO of CRT
IWI is sad to report that Robin Evans, who presided over the transformation of British Waterways into the independent Canal & River Trust in 2012, died in early September after a short illness. Robin joined British Waterways in 1999 as commercial director, becoming chief executive in 2002. Alongside chairman Tony Hales, Robin led the work to develop the concept of a new charity for the waterways, and was then able to navigate through the many political hurdles to successfully create and launch the Canal & River Trust in July 2012. His leadership, vision and tenacity was instrumental in this, the culmination of years of painstaking effort and skilful negotiation. A year later, in May 2013, he stepped down from his role, having seen the new charity fully established and the long-term future for the canal network of England and Wales secured.
Reflecting on Robin’s invaluable contributions to the protection and championing of Britain’s waterways, the current chief executive Richard Parry wrote to colleagues to acknowledge his work: ‘Robin was thoughtful and courteous, whilst also fiercely determined to achieve his goals for the waterways. Those of us who have joined since 2013 didn’t know Robin, but we all owe him a debt of gratitude for creating the great organisation we are a part of today. We mourn his loss, remembering the vital role he played in the history of the nation’s inland waterways.’
AGM in Bydgoszcz
IWI’s Annual General Meeting was held in Bydgoszcz, on Sunday, June 23, 2024. We were pleased to hold an in-person AGM, as we did in 2022 in Leipzig.
IWI Council changes
Three long-standing Council members have retired. We are very grateful to our former Secretary Dave MacDougall (Canada), our boating expert and correspondent Mike Miller (Ireland), and Shubenacadie Canal director Claire Halpern (Canada) for their valuable contributions. The three vacancies will be filled shortly.
Membership magazine
Members of Inland Waterways International receive a printed magazine.
If you are not yet a member. If you are not yet a member and would like to receive in-depth news of campaigns and developments around the world, then join IWI to guarantee you receive this magazine by post.
Baťa Canal extended
Ninety years after it was opened in the Eastern Moravia region of the Czech Republic, the Baťa Canal is being extended for recreational navigation. IWI’s upcoming magazine (issue No. 39) will give details of this ambitious project implemented by the Directorate of Waterways of the Czech Republic in partnership with the region and local authorities. When the current works are complete, the waterway will extend from Kroměříž
WCC Bydgoszcz success
The World Canals Conference reverted to an on-site event in June 2024 after an on-line version in 2023. The event was based in Bydgoszcz in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region of Poland, where the Rivers Brda and Wisła (Vistula) meet, along with the old and new Bydgoszcz Canals.
Boats demonstrate for UK canals at Westminster
IWI is supporting a new campaign, Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW), recently launched by the Inland Waterways Association. FBW is a coalition of organisations representing hundreds of thousands of users and supporters of inland waterways. The aim is to secure more permanent and stable funding for the country’s waterways, which are currently facing the challenges of keeping vulnerable infrastructure safe and operational, with severely limited resources.
PIANC waterways conference in Nanjing
IWI was represented in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, for a waterways conference run by the Inland Navigation Commission of sister organisation PIANC, on November 27-29, 2023. Members who contributed to this fascinating report are Jim Stirling, who as technical director of British Waterways Scotland oversaw the construction of the Falkirk Wheel, and Marc Michaux, chief engineer in charge of works on the Strépy-Thieu shiplift in Wallonia, Belgium.
IWI at COP28 in Dubai
IWI president Rudy Van der Ween, also now vice-chairman of the World Canal Cities Organisation, attended the COP 28 conference in Dubai, at the invitation of WCCO. A pavilion was devoted to the annual Global Canal Rowing Action. Cities around the world, including Yangzhou, China (Grand Canal) and Dubai, UAE, joined hands to promote canal culture and the concept of low-carbon environmental protection for sustainable development.
Plans for Saale-Leipzig Canal’s boatlift revealed
The design was suggested by students who took part in a competition before the WCC was held in Leipzig on May 31-June 3, 2022. As shown in the film, it incorporates the complete upper lock chamber as built in the late 1930s before World War II stopped the works.
Canal to boost combined transport in SW China
During his visit to Guilin in China, on June 1, 2023, IWI’s past president Rudy Van der Ween was shown the works in progress to create a new waterway in Southwest China: the Pinglu Canal. The new canal, to open in 2026, is expected to boost combined transport in Guangxi Province and beyond, reducing the distance for waterborne freight from Beibu Gulf to the provincial capital Nanning by no less than 565 km.
The World Canal Conference 2023 online
Following Covid disruption to the planned WCC schedule, there is no in-person conference in 2023. In its place, IWI is hosting a series of ‘webinars’ covering important waterways issues, presented by experts from all over the world.
WCC in Buffalo, NY
Two hundred years after the grand opening of the Erie Canal, Buffalo invites the world’s canal community back to New York State’s ‘Queen City’, for the World Canals Conference in September 2025. Governor DeWitt Clinton’s inaugural voyage began here on 25 October 1825, culminating in the famous ‘Wedding of the Waters’ ceremony in New York Harbor.
EU calls for greater use of inland waterways
Inland waterways can play a pivotal role in the EU’s efforts to decarbonise the transport system, according to the Council of the European Union. In December 2022, the Council voted to approve the conclusions of the NAIADES III report on ‘Ongoing development of inland waterways transport’.