A Journey in the History of Water (fwd)

["Clement M. Henry" <chenry@mail.la.utexas.edu>]

Here is a video I cannot order for this course - but just to keep
you thinking about trade-offs between oil and water.  The arid Middle East
may be fighting wars over water, not oil!

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Clement M. Henry
Professor of Government
University of Texas at Austin
Austin TX 78712
tel 471-5121, fax 471-1061

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 03 Sep 2002 09:40:37 +0200
From: "Centre for Development Studies, UoB" <post@sfu.uib.no>
To: post@sfu.uib.no
Subject: A Journey in the History of Water



A Journey in the History of Water

‘A Journey in the History of Water’ is a four-part video series from all
over the world that will increase water awareness. Based on a critically
acclaimed television series, the series is made for educational purposes
and to broaden general information about water.

Recently it has been made available on video by the Centre for Development
Studies at the University of Bergen, Norway. ‘A Journey in the History of
Water’ tells the dramatic story of how the struggle for fresh water has
shaped human society to a remarkable extent. The series brings the viewer
to more than 20 countries across the world and shows in fascinating variety
how people have coped with what is societies' lifeblood - water.

This video is based on the television series ‘History of Water’ which won
the Grand Prix on 17th International Environment Film Festival and has been
sold to about 40 TV-stations, including the National Geographic Channel and
Discovery Channel.

To read more about the series, seeing samples of the series and ordering,
please go to


http://watervideo.com



'A Journey in the History of Water' is divided in four programmes of 45
minutes exploring different themes pertaining to the importance of water.
The brief description below of the four parts highlights the different
angles to water and its history explored by ‘A Journey in the History of
Water’:


I. The Struggle
No society can exist, not even for one day, without fresh water. This
program takes the viewer from unique scenes in the Himalayas, where a
sterile expanse of rock has been transformed into an oasis, to the Borana
people of southern Ethiopia, who manually draw water for 300,000 people and
a million head of cattle from deep, hidden wells. The ancient civilisation
of the Nile valley is contrasted with the highly sophisticated methods of
irrigation employed by farmers in California. We then progress via the
aqueducts and beautiful fountains of Imperial Rome to the old land of the
Aztecs and their water civilisation, where today the world's largest
metropolis, Mexico City, is sinking due to overuse of groundwater.

II. The Energy
It was a momentous revolution in the history of humankind when the energy
in running water came to be exploited. For countless millennia the only
power available was human or animal muscle power. This programme takes the
viewer on a dramatic boat trip down the Yangtze through the Three Gorges to
the world's biggest hydropower dam, and on to the longest canal ever built,
the old Emperor Canal. The programme explores the role of the modest water
falls and canals in Britain's industrial revolution, before ending up in
Norway, a land abundantly endowed with rivers, lakes and waterfalls, and
whose development from about 1500 was totally dependent upon different uses
of hydro-power.

III. The Myths
The physical and aesthetic properties of water give it a unique
mythical-religious potential. It is always in motion, changing in form,
colour and quantity, and has therefore played an important role in myths
and religious rituals all over the world. This programme starts on the
raincoast of Scandinavia to investigate the religion of the Vikings and
then goes to the Middle East, home of the monotheistic desert religions. It
follows in the biblical footsteps of the Israelites from Jordan to Jericho
and discusses the importance of water in Islam. The role of Mother Ganga in
Hinduism and the significance of the enormous funeral pyres in the sacred
city of Varanasi are shown. The programme also looks at the history of
bathing, from Roman times to modern hydrotherapy in Germany. It ends up in
France, at Lourdes, where millions of pilgrims flock every year to take the
holy water.


IV. The Conflicts

Many argue that future conflicts will be conflicts over fresh water. Others
argue that the water question will encourage co-operation. This programme
takes the viewer from the desert city, Las Vegas, where urban history rests
not only on the casinos, but also on water control. It then proceeds to
Lake Victoria in the heart of Africa, to the wonderful Blue Nile falls in
Ethiopia, to the greatest swamp in the world in Southern Sudan and to
Egypt, to tell the story of past water conflicts on a grand scale. This is
followed by a presentation of the water issue in the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Then the viewer is taken to a little-known institution - one of the oldest
court still functioning in Europe - the water tribunal in Valencia, Spain.
The series ends in the deserts of Oman, bringing the viewer to deep
underground canals made more than two thousands years ago and to a water
auction!



Ordering:
Cost: USD 59 or NOK 550
Postage and packing: USD 17.
To order, please visit the series’ website with an electronic order form,
answer this e-mail or write to or send a fax to the Centre for Development
Studies at:

Centre for Development Studies
Nygårdsgaten 5
5015 Bergen
Norway
Fax: 47 - 55 58 98 92



In detail:
Title: A Journey in the History of Water
Duration: 4 * 45min.
Formats: PAL (European) or NTSC (American)
Narration: English
Manuscript: Professor Terje Tvedt of the Centre for Development Studies
Director: Terje Dale of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation
Adapted for video: Anders Leines and Prof. Terje Tvedt 2001


http://watervideo.com



Production: Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and University of Bergen 2001.
Copyright: Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and University of Bergen.
Distributed to: Educational and research institutions and personnel, and
public institutions.



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You have received this information about the video series concerned with
water because of your or your institution’s research areas and interest in
water, ecology or resource questions, an interest for the regions the
series explores, or because you are related to an educational, library or
research institution. The e-mail addresses have been compiled for this one
notification only. However, if you want to have your e-mail address deleted
from our list, please send an e-mail to the Centre for Develeopment Studies
at post@sfu.uib.no