104 countries, United Nations, European Union, Iberoamerican Secretary; 93 days, 2800 experts on water and sustainable development, 60.000 volunteers and 6 million visitors…one world capital of water…Zaragoza…

The 2800 experts that participated in the Water tribune debates helped to shape the Zaragoza charter which contains recommendations to face challenges related to water….
so this is it?..well, no. World Water Forum will take place next month in Istambul.

And for Zaragoza, is this it? No, it is not. The office of UN for water (2005-2015) in Zaragoza, a brand new research center on climate change using Expo´s Spanish Pavilion and other initiatives should ensure that Zaragoza remains focus on water and sustainable development…

Many thanks to all the people that made this possible and see you around!

Pd. Click on here to follow the fireworks at 22.15!

The end of Expo Zaragoza 2008 is approaching. 3 months have passed by and many many hundreds of thousands of people have shared the dream. Now it is time for Korean city Yeosu which will organise the next international expo in 2012, upon the legacy of Zaragoza.

Yeosuwill change zaragoza riverscape for a seascape, the west by the east, but the essential will remain, the spirit that makes a city and its citizens to show the best of its nature to the world…

No need of introduction for Mikhail Gorbachev, so i will be very short and to the point: Mr.Gorbachev will be next 9th of September at the Expo (event takes place outside Expo premises in Huesca´s Congress Palace just 80 km from Zaragoza) where this Nobel Peace Prize winner will deliver a speech, under the title ‘Water for Peace’, looking at examples of turning water into peace…

Everyone knows what´s an iceberg….but difficult to imagine one in Zaragoza´s hot summer…with penguins included. Diffficult but not impossible…The world-famous Spanish director, Calixto Bieito is directing this every night (9.28 pm) miracle…within the Expo Zaragoza 2008 premises…well partially…

The performance is a half an hour no (language) dialogue Dialogue between an iceberg, mankind and the river Ebro, a dialogue of images and conflicts around climate change and adaptation for sustanaibility..

Technically is a master piece, a gigantic show which wont leave anyone indifferent. The process is as follows: public gathers on one side of river Ebro (within the expo premises) and on the other side of the river (yes…I haven’t seen this anywhere else but it is an extraordinary idea…) the performance takes place. This is a multimedia show which -because of its impacting huge and sometimes dramatic, sad images- I wouldn’t recommend to children…however it is a fantastic opportunity for all other audiences to end a day at this Expo on water and SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT…

… that is the title of the last work of Nobel prize winner Dario Fo which is a call to wake up…using humor.
You can see it (for other events at that venue click here) at the Expo Conference center
I am delighted that -in addition to the everynight concerts at Expo Zaragoza 2008 Anfiteatro 43 the Expo and the Zaragoza city council has programmed a variety of cultural events.

For the first time in history and due to Expo 2008, the Teatro Principal will open its doors in summer with theater, dance and music shows. Thus, from 13 August to 7 September, “Cómeme el coco, negro” by La Cubana. To end with this theater programme of the Expo period, from 11 to 14 of September, “Hamlet” directed by Juan Diego Botto. Also in September, from 17 to 21, it will be represented “Sitios Saragosse”, a production of the Fundation Zaragoza 2008 with direction and playwriting by Mariano Anós.

At another venue, the fantastic Auditorium Conference Hall where the most prestigious conductors, national and international orchestras and unique voices will meet in an excellent cycle of Classical Music directed by Zubin Mehta, for example counting with a Lyrical Gala with Montserrat Caballé and Montserrat Martí next 5th of September…
So Expo does promise something for everyone. Enjoy!

The blog of Mr. Afilamazas (sorry only in Spanish…nice videos too…) explains that Expo Zaragoza is worth visiting for a number of reasons (architecture, knowledge & entertainment, etc) but warns visitors that some pavilions are just “selling” their countries ie. they are unrelated to the theme of the expo or if we are “lucky”, they will show up with their best “water” achievements…

Russian pavilion is much more than that. It is about water from Russian perspective….

Russia being the 2nd biggest world owner of water resources has an enormous stock of water which is managed the Russian way…Russians on top of being smart and intelligent as they are (for instance, you can see at the pavilion some Russian technological achievements such as a floating nuclear plant for water desalinisation) are emotional, warm maybe even spiritual as the audiovisual (a must see!) will allow you to know … mixing water with science, religion and more…the video touches you in a way or another. Enjoy!

Pd. There is a photo competition running till the 25th of August with nice prices like a visit to lake Baikal …Russian warm hospitality included
Pd2 in the Russian pavilion you have a shop too

At the Japanese pavilion in Expo Zaragoza 2008 you will be transported to the EDO times , more precisely 200 years ago…when Tokyo megalopolis was a 1 million citizens city called EDO.

“In the land of Asian Monsoon climate and ragged terrain, with geographical limitations (more than 120 millions for a territory of approximately 2/3 of Spain!) surrounded by sea on all four sides, Japanese people have developed skills, culture and lifestyles that live in harmony and symbiosis with nature, rather than confronting it….”.
Or as Japan´s Prince Naruhito (featured on the photo) put it during his visit to the Expo this week, you need to “look to our ancestors” for inspiration, noting that even without modern technology they were able to combat the problems of water, such as floods and droughts.

After visiting the pavilion, I can say that this is a remarkable audiovisual experience where -despite all that we can learn from Japan - the video shown is not patronising at all…hope the message will pass as indeed seems to be happening as per the high number of visitors…anyway, at the end fo the 9 minutes trip, visitors will have a surprise: a real experience of water overwhelming power and beauty. After, you will be given forecast of possible future scenarios linked with climate change…and a cup with Japanese-Spanish tea (another surprise …to digest the info and watch some artistic photographs…enjoy!

The EU pavilion (approx. 600m²) will try and improve EU visibility & EU listening and communicating strategies by going local and “meeting” some of the millions of visitors expected at Expo Zaragoza 2008.

To do so, the services of the European Commission have been invited to prepare info days on their corresponding fields in relation with the title of this exhibition. Many different subjects eg. research, agriculture, development, fisheries, environment & climate change, etc
are related with water and dealt with/by the European Union. If curious, you can find out who will be in Zaragoza this summer by clicking here

This Tuesday, EU officials will be there providing with a quick overview of EU funded Water and Sanitation projects all over the world. Check out the agenda here

Pd. The frog is a sculture from Arrudi which you will find on the sides of river Ebro…

You can make a virtual tour to get to know what the Swiss have to say about water in their exhibition ‘Under the Lake’ (Swiss pavilion at Expo Zaragoza 2008)…lakes are part of swiss…if Switzerland’s water reserves were spread evenly over the entire swiss territory country (41,285 square kilometers) then we will create a lake-country of around 5.6 meters deep (ie. 230,000 million cubic meters of fresh water). That´s a lot of fresh water…for a small country. Just as reference, Greenland ground ice -if melted completely- would increase world-wide sea level by more than 6 metres…that´s why there is a lot of interest in knowing what´s going on with the water there…so far the most impressive drainage (of a lake, and water ending under the lake…) event occurred in July 2006, when most of a 5.6 sq km lake emptied in just 90 minutes….Niagara Falls (see photo above). Underneath the lake, the ice sheet was raised and began moving horizontally (to the sea) at twice the average daily rate….

In addition in the Swiss pavilion the development project called SODIS vwill be explained. This is a very simple mechanism that serves the purpose of household water treatment system for those regions outside the clean tap water division. Basically you leave a plastic-pet bottle for 6 hours under the sun and a miraculous solar water disinfection (effective against diarrhea) is delivered. Very simple and so far 2 million people around the world had benefited from it.
Pretty nice and interesting that a country with one of the purest water on earth has allocated a space for this. Donations for this project are welcome (see details at the bottom of this page).

Themed “Humans and Water - Return to Harmony, this pavilion will provide information about its two main rivers - the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.

Topics dealt at the pavilion include water management both modern technology (see here a previous post about the 3 gorges dam ) and thousands of years old projects such as Dujiangyan no-Dam (ie. water diversion without a dam) also known as the Treasure of Sichuan

Pd. Tomorrow 1st of July is the opening ceremony of the Chinese national pavilion.Jiang Shusheng, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress will be there with Spanish Vice-president Teresa Fernandez De la Vega….