WATER: From Shaping to Shaped
Study Days
5-6-7 November 2021 and 4-5 November 2022
Rome - Conference Room of Cartiera Latina
via Appia Antica
The title of this volume highlights that the true and central protagonist of this remarkable publication is WATER—an element that shapes and transforms the landscape and influences human choices tied to its use. At the same time, water is increasingly transformed by human intervention, becoming a driver of complex interdependencies between communities and their surrounding environment.
This volume brings together contributions presented at the conference “WATER: From Shaping to Shaped,” held in its first edition in November 2021. The contributions are inspired by the transformations of the landscape through the lens of this essential element, which, in its many forms, has always been a fundamental resource for humankind.
The initiative aimed to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the local communities living and working in the territory, through the active involvement of the Appia Antica Regional Park, which plays a pivotal role in the area.
Thus, from a shaping force, WATER—through human intervention—becomes shaped, no longer merely an agent of natural transformation, but itself subject to ongoing modification by human activity. This relationship between humans, water, and the environment has been a fundamental factor in the cultural, economic, and demographic development of both ancient and modern civilizations, becoming a symbol of power and territorial control.
For this reason, to speak of water is inevitably to speak of landscape, which can be defined as the result of a long, continuous, and dynamic diachronic interaction between humans and their environment—between nature and culture. This volume adopts a holistic approach, underpinning a collective effort aimed ultimately at rethinking and restoring the human–WATER relationship in a sustainable way.
Today more than ever, the link between humans, water, and the territory is a pressing theme—not only for understanding the past but also for facing the future of humanity in a context of increasing ecological and climatic instability.
Publications available only on-line