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 and presented by experts from all over the world. The monthly webinars will run from June to November with a break in August and are free to attend.
Topics include working with partners (including volunteer organisations) to manage canals, different approaches to regenerating canals, how inland waterways boating can have less environmental impact, urban regeneration associated with canal restoration as well as what makes China’s Lingqu Canal unique.
Register here
The first two events were held successfully on June 15 and July 20, 2023. Details of those events are given below, after the list of themes and their presenters for the events from September to November:
Different approaches to regenerating canals
Joe Reed, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (USA)
Mike Palmer, Waterway Recovery Group, Inland Waterways Association (UK)
Thursday September 21 at 16:00 CET
‘Greening’ inland cruising vessels
Simon Boyde, IWI Low Impact Navigation Working Group (UK)
Alfred Carignant, Les Canalous (France)
Thursday October 19 at 16:00 CET
Canal restoration and urban regeneration
John Festarini, Lachine Canal, Parks Canada (Canada)
Jean-François Antoine, Canal de Roubaix, Lille Métropole (France)
[replacing canal manager Camille Longueval, unavailable on this date]
Thursday November 16 at 16:00 CET
Managing canals: working with partners,
including volunteer organisations
Éanna Rowe, Waterways Ireland (Ireland)
Thursday June 15
The well-attended presentation is posted on IWI’s YouTube channel.
What makes China’s Lingqu Canal unique?
Zhang Chuhan, professor at Tsinghua University, academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, expert in hydraulic engineering
Jiang Tingyu, former Director of the Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, conducted archeological excavations along the Lingqu Canal
Event coordinated by the Lingqu Canal Museum and its curator Lijing Tang
Thursday July 20 at 16:00 CET
The well-attended hybrid presentation, with 100 participants in the meeting room in Guilin and online participants worldwide, is posted on IWI’s YouTube channel
The sessions are 1¼ hours long. The timing is designed to allow the participation of members from the midwest of North America and China and other countries in Asia. There will be time for questions and answers. The edited videos will be posted on a new YouTube channel for IWI.
The series of WCC online presentations (or ‘webinars’) is giving valuable insights into a wide range of subjects. IWI is grateful to corporate members the Inland Waterways Association (UK), Waterways Ireland, the National Park Service, Parks Canada and Les Canalous for their collaboration. Our thanks also to the Michigan Institute of Technology for technical support in setting up the series and registration through Zoom Events, based on their experience in providing the same to the Society for Industrial Archeology and The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH).