UNESCO Chair - What we do

2022 _World Water Day

2018 – The water chair promotes and hosts INFORMATION SHARING MEETING, held at the University for Foreigners of Perugia, as part of the SMA.RI.GO.2.0 project, co-financed by the Central European Initiative Executive Secretariat (CEI-ES) and sponsored by the Italian Foreign Ministry

2017 _The water chair promotes and hosts IHP-UNESCO Region 1 Meeting

2017 _ Workshop: New Insight for Hydrological Observation
On the occasion of the IHP-UNESCO Region 1 meeting, held in Perugia on June 15th-16th 2017, the Italian National Committee of IHP-UNESCO, together with the MOXXI-IAHS Working Group (http://iahs.info/Commissions--W-Groups/Working-Groups/MOXXI.do), is promoting a workshop aimed at providing an overview of the research activities of the Italian scientific community concernin

2016 - Unesco Chair promotes Laurea Honoris Causa to Irina Bokova

The Honorary degree to Irina Bokova was conferred by the unanimous and convinced decision of the University for Foreigners of Perugia with the permission of the Ministry of Education, University and Research and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Commendation: Professor Ubertini. Honorary Lecture: Irina Bokova.

(2013-2018) MA course module: Geographical information systems (38 h). MA course module on ‘geographical information systems’ in the two-year master’s degree programmes MA in International Relations and Development Cooperation at the University for Foreigners of Perugia.

(2013-2018) MA course module: Communication and management of natural disaster (40 h). MA course module on ‘Communication and management of natural disaster’ in the two-year master’s degree programmes MA in International Relations and Development Cooperation at the University for Foreigners of Perugia.

Courses offered by the H2CU center. The UNESCO Chair in "Water Resources Management and Culture" contributed to several educational activities and programs of the partner H2CU – Honors Center of Italian Universities, which is an international research network including 21 Italian universities and 3 research institutes.

2017 - International summer school July - Fordham University, New York.

The stringent requirements for cultural heritage preservation and the emerging use of innovative solutions for consolidation, recovery, rehabilitation, re-functionality, and energy retrofit of historic buildings represent a new professional path required by the modern market. Humanities focus is also dedicated to the preservation of ancient oral traditions from the Middle Ages by highlighting new dimensions of intangible cultural heritage, such as the magical dimension, the power of rituals, the charms of liturgy, science, medicine, etc. In this sense, these two parallel 2-week long summer courses are aimed at sharing knowledge and new technical skills within these two domains, both aimed at appreciating this legacy of physical science artifacts and intangible attributes for the current and next generations.

Course 1: Orality and Cultural Heritage: Magic and Charms in the Medieval Germanic Tradition;

Course 2: Structural strengthening and rehabilitation of historic buildings.

2018 - New York International program on world cultural heritage studies with Fordham University, New York.

• Summer School: The Cultural Construction of Places; 13 - 27 August 2018, Fordham Campus at Lincoln Center, NYC.
• Fall Program: World Cultural Heritage Studies. Start 29 August 2018, End 20 December 2018. Location: Fordham Campuses at Lincoln Center and the Bronx.
• “WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE STUDIES” – 2018 World Heritage Preservation
• Engineering and Architecture, Summer Program in Italy:
  • interventions in archaeological sites (Naples Federico II University) / 18 – 27 June 2018.
  • monitoring historic buildings (Palermo University) / 10 – 14 September 2018

Summer Program in New York:

• structural strengthening and rehabilitation of historic buildings (Fordham University, New York) / 16 – 28 July 2018;
• rehabilitation of contemporary historic buildings and case studies (Fordham University, New York) / 30 July – 11 August 2018

• The role of the channel in flood propagation in natural and environmental contexts. Supported by the University for Foreigners of Perugia.
• Connected and shared Science: Unesco Water Chair website redesign

The objective of the UNESCO Water Chair website redesign was to make the website institutional and at the same time usable and clear even for those users who do not know the UNESCO Water Chair.

• Increase cooperation among similarly-themed and/or regional water chairs and water centres through an information sharing platform

Starting from the redesign of the UNESCO Chair in Water Resources Management and Culture website, it was decided to create an information sharing platform to increase cooperation among similarly-themed and/or regional Water Chairs and Water Centres. This communication platform is intended to be a tool for building uniform, qualitative, and effective scientific communication on water-related issues. The communication platform is based on the conviction that information and communication are prerequisites for developing a relationship with the surrounding world and, in this case, for increasing relationships between all the UNESCO Water Chairs and spreading information to the audience. By planning and integrating this platform, communication can significantly support the development of the chairs and the definition of common goals.

Collaboration and linkages (specify activities which involve other UNESCO chairs and/or members of the water family)

• Collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on prevention and sustainable management of geo-hydrological hazards, University of Florence.
• Inaugural meeting on the prevention and sustainable management of geo-hydrological hazards. Florence, 27 October 2016, Italy
• ‘Mobilizing UNESCO Chairs in Natural Sciences for Policy Action Towards the 2030 Agenda, 5-7 July 2017 University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
• The Geneva Lake Workshop - UNESCO academic network towards the 2030 Agenda, 7 March 2018, Switzerland, Lausanne
• The strong cooperation with UNESCO Headquarters and WWAP led to the definition of the “Perugia Action Plan” in the first UNESCO Water Chair meeting;
• The promotion of the Laurea Honoris Causa to Irina Bokova, DG UNESCO, from the University for Foreigners in Perugia, Italy, February 2016;
• Cooperation with UNESCO Headquarters will be further enhanced;
• The meeting of the UNESCO IHP Region 1 National Committees was held in Perugia and was organized and coordinated by our UNESCO chair.
• The establishment of the Centre for Sustainable Heritage Conservation SHeC
  Project carried out by the UNESCO chairs belonging to the group "Urban Planning, Urban Sustainability, Tourism", TEST (set up by the Italian National Commission for UNESCO on May 24, 2017), to establish in Italy, directly connected with the Mediterranean region, a research and training center, based on humanistic principles, concerned with the conservation of cultural and natural heritage.