 |
Members' space Inland Waterways International |
|||||||
campaigning for inland waterways worldwide since 1995 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
IWI brings together people and organisations who support the conservation, use, development and proper management of inland waterways worldwide. It aims to raise public awareness of the benefits of using waterways for a wide range of activities, from inland shipping to pleasure cruising, towpath walking and other recreational uses. It also promotes restoration, where appropriate, of waterways which have become derelict.
IWI now hosts the WCC Steering Committee, following a decision by its Council meeting in Kingston, Ontario, on 14 September 2008, ratified by its AGM two days later. It was felt by past conference organisers that the WCC mission statement and the statutory objectives of IWI were so close that IWI could be considered a natural home for an otherwise loosely structured group of organisers of past conferences. Rory Robinson remains chair of the committee. |
IWI to visit Main-Danube Canal Book now to take part in a comprehensive tour of the inland waterways of Southern Germany, including Europe's highest canal, the Main-Danube, and key sites on the rivers Main and Danube, from October 1-13, 2010. The tour is organised by Tom Grasso, IWI's former President and President of the Canal Society of New York State. Details on the tours page (in preparation). IWI support to Czech waterways The Czech waterway authorities have expressed their gratitude to IWI for
assistance in rejecting a parliamentary motion which would have led to abandonment of all prospects of building the Danube-Oder-Elbe waterways in the Czech Republic. Members of the Green Party, which following recent elections lost their places in the coalition government, had proposed that the land reserved since the Communist period should be sold off for development. Their ulterior motive was not the development (which they could then also block subsequently), but formal abandonment of all hopes or expectations of building these missing links in the European waterway network.  (click to enlarge) According to Jaroslav Bimka, Chief Engineer of the National Waterways Authority, the canals may well not be built for many years, but he and many others, including a 'progressive' member of the Green Party, Martin Kolarík, believe that it makes sense to retain national ownership of the land, so that the waterways can be built as soon as the economic, environmental and funding climate is right. | |||
IWI's 14th Annual general meeting took place at the Sajam Hotel in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (Serbia) on Friday 25 September 2009 Members receive regular news of campaigns and developments in all areas through the magazine World Wide Waterways and newsletter IWI News. World Wide Waterways No 22 is currently in preparation. New members will receive No 21 with their welcome pack. IWI officersPresident
|
IWI's World Canals Conference Steering Committee selects the site to host this annual event. See on our WCC page details of the 2010 event in Rochester, N.Y. (USA) (September 19-24), as well as accounts of past conferences. Ulster Canal The Ulster Canal restoration project is going ahead. This is a significant new North-South project, in the wake of the 1998 Good Friday agreement. The €200 million project, which also includes several cross-border roads, will be implemented jointly with the UK government departments responsible for infrastructure investments in Northern Ireland. The 74km canal links Lough Erne and Lough Neagh.
Local
authorities expect the canal to be a catalyst for regeneration in the economically depressed border region, as was the Shannon-Erne waterway reopened in 1994. The IWAI believes that re-instating this missing link in Ireland's inland
waterways network will bring major benefits to the communities living in the canal corridor and will be a major boost to the development of tourism in the region. IWI has also regularly featured the Ulster Canal in its publications. |
European Waterways
EU directive on engine Thanks to a persistent effort by dedicated specialists over a period of 3 years, IWI (with other organisations) was able to contribute to a number of key changes in the proposed directive, which makes the final version more logical and realistic. It was for this kind of activity that the IWI was conceived, but advice and information is also regularly offered to individual members who are users of the waterways. | ||
The third edition of the European Waterways Map & Concise Directory
is available on this site. The map was completely updated in 2008, with new mapping for many areas, especially in Eastern Europe. It also shows the planned route of the 106 km long Seine-Nord Europe Canal in France.
With the same format as the previous edition, 15x24 cm, the maps open out to 100 by 68 cm. The overview map was redrawn for Eastern Europe. The enlargement on the reverse shows the network from the UK through to Bratislava on the Danube in remarkable detail.The new directory, running to 64 pages, is abundantly illustrated with full-colour photographs, as well as some additional maps required to cover certain parts of the network: the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Serbia and the Birmingham Canal Navigations in England. This new directory is a mine of information, where we can learn about a canal restored in Belarus, a terminal built on the Danube in Moldova, and the extraordinary 'double lift and aqueduct' being planned to cross a motorway on the Göta Canal in Sweden.
There is a unique blend of practical information and snippets of the unusual or unexpected in Euromapping's publications. This edition gives a balanced view of the present situation, and the result is a publication of value for studying, visiting and campaigning for the
heritage of navigations throughout Europe. The directory gives addresses and web sites for waterway authorities. The map may now be acquired from Internat Ltd via our
|
 |