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. The conference helped put the Polish waterways on the map for delegates who may not have been aware of the extensive network of navigable rivers and canals, used for both leisure and freight, although inland water transport represents a very small proportion of freight movements in the country.
The conference was timed to coincide with the Bydgoszcz Water Festival ‘Ster na Bydgoszcz’ which celebrates the city’s location on three waterways, and featured music, sports events and other activities, centred on Mill Island on the River Brda. The island was site of the main conference location, the Rother’s Mills, a huge conference venue based in the old mills working the head of water corresponding to Bydgoszcz city lock.
The conference brought together waterways professionals, engineers, experts and politicians for three days of speeches, presentations, workshops and study visits. Keynote speakers included our President Sharon Leighton, Bydgoszcz Deputy Mayor Lukasz Krupa, Monika Niemiec-Butryn from the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and Piotr Durajczyk from the Inland Navigation Office in Szczecin.
Delegates gather for the opening session at the Chamber Theatre in Bydgoszcz, on 24 June 2024
Dr Artur Magnuszewski, from the Hydrology Department of the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies at Warsaw University, gave an enlightening presentation on ‘why the lower Vistula river is so difficult for navigation’, explaining how the river’s huge sandbanks ‘roll’ downstream at the rate of up to 400m per year. Similar difficulties characterise the lower Oder river. The debate continues on whether works (including lateral canals) are justified, to secure a future for inland water transport in Poland, or whether it is now time to abandon such ambitions in Poland, which would mean relying almost exclusively on road and rail for freight.
The breakout sessions followed three themes: ‘Man and human activities’, ‘Water, heritage and tourism’ and ‘Ecology and Technologies’, and there was an emphasis on working together, to balance the needs of the environment, trade, tourism and community. There were sessions on waterways topics from around the world, including China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, UK and the USA.
As well as the programme of talks, there were exhibitors from the local regions; the next two WCC locations (Buffalo and Guilin), Phoenix Publishing previewing their World Canals book series; manufacturers of equipment and trade members of IWI.
The programme of visits covered the Bydgoszcz Canals old and new; the Brdyujcie and Czwesko-Polskie Locks at the junction of the Brda and Wisła rivers, where there is an ongoing trade in transport of aggregates; the Bydgoszcz Canal Museum and a vineyard in the Lower Vistula valley.
The conference was book-ended by pre- and-post conference tours to Gdansk, a beautiful city on the Baltic, rebuilt after WW2, which combines leisure and commercial waterways; the Elbląg Canal with its five ‘dry’ inclined planes; Tczew, Grudziądz, Malbork and Toruń, historic cities on the banks of the Vistula; and the Kujawy region including the Noteć River (the ‘Kujavian Amazon’). For many waterways enthusiasts on the pre-conference tour the highlight was the Nowy Swiat (New World) lock built in 2022 linking the Vistula Lagoon with the Baltic and bypassing the previous route through the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. At 110 m long by 25m wide, the lock is the biggest and newest in Poland.
The WCC returns to the USA in 2025 in Buffalo on the Erie Canal, and to Guilin, China in 2026 (link to WCC page).
Janet Gascoigne