Ancestral Hydro-technologies as a Response to Climate and Food Emergencies: Use of Cultural Heritage to Rescue the Future

Our new article in Blue Papers – Water & Heritage for Sustainable Development (2025) shows how ancestral hydrotechnologies can strengthen climate adaptation and mitigation while safeguarding ecosystems and biodiversity. Beyond water regulation and risk reduction, these approaches deliver co-benefits for pollution management, food systems, health, and local economic development.

A new publication by the UNESCO Chair on Sustainability (UPC) on Ancestral Hydrotechnologies has been released in Blue Papers – Water & Heritage for Sustainable Development (2025). The paper by Jordi Morató, Olga Lucía Sanchez and José Luis Martin argues that these time-tested systems can play a decisive role in climate adaptation and mitigation—especially for flood and drought management, disaster-risk reduction, water regulation, and the protection of ecosystem services and biodiversity. It also highlights their multifunctional co-benefits for pollution control, food production, public health, and inclusive local economies. In short, the article distills key properties—low-energy design, circularity, landscape fit, community governance, and modularity—that offer actionable insights for contemporary water management.

Confronting hotter, drier conditions and mounting water competition, the article calls for adaptive, nature-based solutions across the Mediterranean. It makes the case for updating ancestral hydrotechnologies (e.g., Minoan rainwater systems, Roman aqueducts, qanats, acequias, Zenú canals, terraces, amunas) whose low-energy, landscape-fit design helps regulate water, reduce flood and drought risks, and support biodiversity—fully consistent with the WEFE Nexus.

To scale them today, the UNESCO Chair on Sustainability authors call for multi-level governance, legal recognition and protection, capacity building, dedicated financing, monitoring and data integration, and interdisciplinary research—pairing traditional knowledge with modern tools such as remote sensing and decentralized management.

Integrating this water heritage into contemporary policy and planning can enhance climate resilience, food and water security, and ecosystem services across the region and beyond.

Ancient hydro- technologies—traditional water management systems developed by ancient civilizations—offer valuable insights for climate adaptation. Examples include Minoan rainwater harvesting, Roman aqueducts and the qanats originating in what is now Iran, which prioritized water conservation, efficient irrigation, and flood control. These systems, designed in harmony with nature, exemplify sustainability, resilience and multifunctionality, contributing to biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation. To scale up ancient hydro-technologies, integrated governance, legal recognition, capacity building and interdisciplinary research are essential. International cooperation and financial resources can help preserve and adapt these traditional solutions to modern challenges, integrating them into the Water-Energy-Food Ecosystem Nexus (WEFE Nexus) framework for sustainable water, energy, food, and ecosystem managemen

As global water scarcity intensifies, combining these traditional practices with modern innovations can foster adaptive, nature-based water management strategies. Their multifunctionality supports biodiversity conservation, food security, and ecosystem services, aligning with the WEFE Nexus and the SDGs. Scaling up these technologies demands financial investment, cross-sector collaboration and awareness-raising initiatives to ensure their preservation and adaptation to future challenges.

From a cultural perspective, these technologies represent a wealth of ancient local and traditional knowledge that should be preserved and valued as cultural heritage.

By bridging traditional wisdom with modern innovation, ancient hydro-technologies can play a pivotal role in advancing climate resilience and sustainable water management, not only in the Mediterranean but globally. Recognizing their value and integrating them into broader strategies will be essential for building equitable and resilient water systems for the future.

Zenu ancestral hydrotechnologies in Colombia.

The biannual peer-reviewed journal Blue Papers explores the complex relationship between water, culture and heritage to assess lessons from the past, to protect heritage sites, to make use of water heritage and to contribute to the development of inclusive and sustainable future water systems. The past can help build a new platform for awareness of water and heritage, which involves shared methodologies and terminologies, policies and tools that bridge disparate fields and disciplines. To achieve this, we also need to rethink the role of water in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Water is not fully captured in Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all; it is also an integral and inseparable key to all SDGs that carry us forward to a more sustainable future.