Clean Tigris - dialogue project for sustainable peace in Mesopotamia

The dialogue programme “Clean Tigris” brought together city mayors and other decision-makers, academics, active members of civil society and artists living along the two main rivers Euphrates and Tigris and the Marshlands in Iraq into a dialogue. Together, they developed sustainable solutions to fight water pollution and strive to improve water management in the country.

Background:

In 2016, the marshlands of Iraq were listed a UNESCO world heritage.

Water means life. The two rivers Euphrates and Tigris serve as important food and water sources for the Iraqi population: be it as an economic livelihood for fishermen, buffalo herders, or families who harvest reed. The population living along the rivers realised that the cultural heritage of the Marshlands is drying out and the surfaces are polluted with plastic waste. In several communities along the rivers, governors and local NGOs are already running initiatives to improve the situation. But since the water flows from North to South, a joint effort from all communities is needed to improve the situation.

Several videos were produced as part of this project, including participant stories regarding the Tigris river, and information about the environment and water.

The project produced a number of significant outcomes:

• The Roadmap for a sustainable water resource management in Irak (in Arabic), offering a set of recommendations on how to improve the water situation in the country.
• The Water for Future festival and conference, organised early November 2021.
• Online workshops with local and international experts on water legislation, international water conflicts, transboundary conflict resolution and negotiation games, as well as the impact of climate change in Iraq and gender dynamics of water conflicts.
• A project by the “Visualize it” team students of the Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT) at the TH Köln (University of Applied Sciences) that produced the webpage Throwback to the Euphrates-Tigris basin’s water history.