The Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, collaborates with the New Culture of Water Foundation in the exhibition “Water, rivers and towns: tribute to those who fight to defend rivers and their people”. This exhibition is exhibited in the Pavilion of Citizen Initiatives, El Faro, of Expo Zaragoza 2008, which is held from June 14 to September 14.
The aim of this photographic exhibition is to raise awareness among visitors about the water problem, directly showing experiences of those affected by hydraulic policies. Likewise, this exhibition aims to make citizens see that active struggle can influence decisions on hydraulic policy and even avoid destructive projects, as well as to encourage social participation and public debate in this type of policy.
Those who visit the exhibition “Water, rivers and peoples: tribute to those who fight to defend rivers and their people”, can see illustrative photographs, interactive screens, projections and texts, which facilitate the awareness of water problems worldwide and their impact on populations in an entertaining and playful way.
El Faro, the Pavilion of Citizen Initiatives that hosts this exhibition, is the space at Expo Zaragoza 2008 that hosts civil society organizations and represents local, national and international organizations. The objectives of the pavilion are: to denounce the situation currently experienced by millions of people who lack drinking water and sanitation, as well as the violation of human and environmental rights due to the use of water as a mere economic resource; to show the alternative solutions of civil society organizations to face the great challenge of achieving sustainable coexistence between human beings and nature and, especially, in their relationship with water and its ecosystems; to promote among citizens the spirit for change towards sustainability, infecting its visitors with the spirit of the participating organizations and the initiatives presented; to create a critical and participatory space for meeting and dialogue, experiences and sensations, with a multidisciplinary nature, which leaves a tangible legacy to the visitor; Present common projects that show the daily work of the participating social movements.
The Lighthouse revolves around eight main themes: the human right to drinking water and sanitation; degradation of rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers and seas; environmental services; climate change; disaster risk management; large Persians and infrastructures; public water management; uses and abuses; and conflicts over water. All the issues have a double aspect: that of denouncing the serious existing problems and that of promoting alternative, viable, respectful and effective models of action with respect to the uses of water.
