Disfrutar
in the Alhambra

The Alliance of World Heritage Cultural Landscapes has organized the 3rd International Conference, taking place in the Alhambra on November 25 and 26. On this occasion, many different experts and persons responsible for the Preservation and Management of Cultural Landscapes from different continents will come together.
The conference is divided into two parts. The first part consists of the presentation of the Alliance of Cultural Landscapes and the holding of its General Assembly, while the second part will be dedicated to a discussion on the topic “Use and Management of Water in Cultural Landscapes”.
The term cultural landscape entails to recognize the value of an area profoundly transformed by human actions over the course of many generations, which shows the capacity of a specific civilization to live in harmony with nature.
The application of this idea to a site that has been declared a World Heritage Site is especially productive, since it brings together within a single unifying – logical and well organized – concept a vast and complex reality, ranging from almost unaltered natural areas to agricultural ones, gardens, and essentially urbanized areas. Also worthy of mention is the benefit from its inherent dynamism and from the introduction of successive contributions, both now and in the future, in an ongoing process of enrichment.
These elements are the basis of the most recent development strategy of Cultural Landscapes, which considers WATER to be one of the main resources, within the scope of the importance of the role, rivers play in local regional and national economic policy, as well as for their importance in land planning.
There are several difficulties inherent to the singular nature and Heritage characteristics of a site, to areas designated as protected areas within the institutional framework, as well as to several approaches to competent entities and ownership. This has prevented the consolidation of a really effective land planning model for the areas where Cultural Landscapes are located. The present situation therefore requires an in-depth discussion on a coordinated intervention of the bodies directly related to the management of the resources upon which the Integrated Management and Organization of Water and Territory of the Cultural Landscapes is based. This is a discussion which should be orientated from the perspective of active conservation rather than simply conservationist management of the heritage.
Fundación Aranjuez Cultural