From October 9 to 11, the Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover opened its doors for the symposium Water as a Public Affair – Water Literacy, as part of the theme week Water Between Extremes. The event was organized by Stephan Lorenz and Karsten Gäbler (Thuringian Water Innovation Cluster, University of Jena), Cordula Dittmer (Disaster Research Unit, FU Berlin), and Pia-Johanna Schweizer (Research Institute for Sustainability, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam).

Over the course of three days, scientists from various disciplines discussed questions concerning the element of water and public water policy with practitioners and members of NGOs. emergenCITY researcher Nadja Thiessen was a guest on the panel Elemental Forces, moderated by Cordula Dittmer, and contributed a historical perspective with a talk on “historical knowledge of floods.” She addressed perceptions of past events, such as the floods in Wertheim in 1909, which led to a kind of disaster tourism, and presented exemplary historical commemoration practices and preserved memorabilia, like contemporary postcards. In conclusion, she advocated for incorporating historical knowledge of (flood)water into a broader concept of water literacy.

Additional inspiring contributions to the panel were made by environmental psychologist Anna Heidenreich (Weizenbaum Institute), sociologist and THW staff member Petra Krüger, and Martha Wingen (HochwasserTok and the Municipal Association of Aachen Region).

Wall with markings of years beside a river Nearby the venue, historical flood marks of the Leine could be discovered (c) Nadja Thiessen

About the Author:

Nadja Thiessen works as a postdoctoral researcher at the chair for Modern and Contemporary History under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jens Ivo Engels. Her research at emergenCITY focuses on learning from past disasters and the use of historical experience to overcome crises.