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.
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’.
IWI is a member go the ‘Think Climate’ coalition under the auspices of PIANC (The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure), working on a far-reaching initiative Navigating a Changing Climate.
A milestone in development of the European waterway network for 3000-tonne barges and push-tows was marked on Tuesday 4 October when the 36m-high Niederfinow shiplift was officially opened, on the Havel-Oder Canal.
The first vessel to pass through the new lift, with its striking architecture, was the Waterway Authority’s icebreaker Frankfurt. Barges and tankers up to 115m long can now transport cargoes between the Polish port of Szceczin and Berlin and beyond.
When we visited the site in May 2022, before attending the World Canals Conference in Leipzig, we saw that even a single-barge Polish push-tow had to split to pass through the original lift, opened in 1933, with its usable length of only 83.50m.
Member Navigli Lombardi is hosting the 27th World Canals Conference in Milan on September 1-4. Sign up for the Conference and the pre- and post-conference tours. Also read background news and features on our Blog. The conference/tours page of Euromapping’s on-line shop may also now be used to register for the conference, by agreement with the host organisation, with a discounted fee for current IWI
The 27th World Canals Conference is to be held in Italy for the first time, and will be based in one of the ‘birthplaces’ of European canals: Milan, from Monday 1st to Thursday 4th September 2014. The public agency for development of Milan’s canals, Navigli Lombardi, is putting together a conference that will be both informative and spectacular. Aware of the importance of the event,
Inland Waterways International as a body and its members as individuals were saddened to hear that Glenn Millar, friend and supporter of inland waterways, passed away in September 2013 after a long illness. Glenn was the economic development manager at the Canal and River Trust (formerly British Waterways), and enthusiastic leader of European cooperation projects on inland waterways. He kept working until 2012 and the
IWI’s Annual General Meeting was held in Toulouse on September 15 at the World Canals Conference venue, the Espaces Vanel. This view shows council member and regular contributor to our publications David Wadham, our delegate for Serbia Krsta Paskovic, secretary Dave MacDougall, president Dave Ballinger, vice-president David Edwards-May and Russell Thompson of Scottish Canals, presenting the case for hosting the WCC in Inverness, Scotland.
The saga of the Canadian Heritage canals managed by Parks Canada grinds on. In the early New Year Parks Canada introduced a new fee schedule for using the locks on its three major historic canals; the Rideau, The Trent Severn Waterway and the Quebec Canals. Not only was Parks Canada proposing a whole new way of charging for the service offered, but also increasing these
VNF’s summary report on its activities in 2012 devotes one of its 10 chapters to the tree-replanting programme and corporate patronage approach to funding the €200 million restoration of the Canal du Midi’s characteristic landscape. VNF reports (in its New Year press release) that it felled 1668 plane-trees condemned by canker stain in 2012, and replanted 68: the uninformed reader immediately sees a ‘deficit’ of
The Google Streetview automatic scrambler of peoples’ faces has indiscriminately defaced the creator of the Canal du Midi on a banner outside the canal museum at Saint-Ferréol. This delightful quirk of automation of image processing suggests a new form of request to be made to our omnipotent and omniscient provider of images of the planet: ‘Dear G, Please unscramble the image of Pierre Paul Riquet.
Good news for Canada’s Historic Canals! The length of the navigation season and the hours of operation of Parks Canada’s historic canals will see little changes in the 2013 season. The length of season will remain the same, with some operational adjustments in the shoulder season. This is very good news for the communities, businesses, and users of the waterways under Parks Canada’s jurisdiction. The
Following the successful World Canals Conference in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China, on September 25-27, the organisers plan to publish a collection of photos to show Yangzhou in the eyes of foreign delegates and friends. It is hoped this will bring a new perspective on the historic Grand Canal through the city, the new canal and all their connections, as well as the related sites, heritage and
More than 200 waterway experts, managers and advocates attended the World Canals Conference at Groningen (Netherlands). The full programme of conference sessions with speakers from many countries throughout the world, and the daily site visits, will be reviewed here and in our next newsletter. The first site visit on Monday September 19 took delegates to the completed section of the Erica-Ter Apel link between Groningen
Claudio Repossi of Navigli Lombardi reports on a series of events to raise awareness of the historic, cultural and recreational values of the Locarno (Switzerland) to Milan waterway via the river Ticino. As part of the joint Italian-Swiss project Intrecci sull’acqua – or Dialogue on the Water – a series of initiatives have been launched, including guided tours of the area and pleasure boating on
Radomir Ječinac reports from Belgrade, Serbia, on the ‘regatta’ (flotilla cruise) organised on the canals and waterways of Serbia in June/July 2012. Remember IWI’s annual World Canals Conference held in Serbia, in the beautiful city of Novi Sad on the Danube, in 2009? The host, Vode Vojvodine (Vojvodina waters) is an all-important institution in our country, which was founded to manage the network of artificial canals in this relatively