EXPO ZARAGOZA: ‘WATER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT’
Zaragoza is a city of 650.000 inhabitants and the capital of the Spanish region Aragon, located at the centre of the north-eastern quarter of the Iberian Peninsula. Zaragoza is approximately on equal distance of the Spanish major cities Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia. It has a direct high-speed train service (AVE) to Madrid and Barcelona and a renovated international airport.
The historic city enhances the cultural legacy of Iberians, Romans, Muslims, Jews and Christian people. It is scattered with archeological remains and monuments. The forum, the theatre, the thermal baths and river port dating back to Roman times are outstanding, as is the La Seo cathedral, which was originally a Roman temple, then a Visigoth church and a Muslim mosque, and now a Christian cathedral.
On 14th June the gates of Expo Zaragoza will be open for the public. The chosen theme is Water and Sustainable Development. The exposition will offer a sensitive, intelligent and deliberate look at one of the greatest challenges facing the human race: water as a main support for life and a strategic resource for human development, from the ethical commitment to sustainability to the intelligent goal of innovation.#
The general theme is developed in three central sub-themes (water a unique resource; water for life; waterscapes) and a fourth transversal theme: water an element linking people: ‘Although it sometimes causes conflict, water is also an important catalyst for peace. When water is shared responsibly can be a vehicle for bringing populations and different water users together’. More than 100 countries will show on the Zaragoza Expo there view on this theme.
The site of the Expo is set on 25 hectares and is part of the 150 hectares of the Water Park, the green lung of Zaragoza, surrounded by the meandering river Ebro. In the interest of visitors the site is only 20 minutes on foot from the center of town and barely 700 meters from the brand new train and bus station.
The Water Tribune, together with the expositions and many shows, is one of the basic pillars of the Expo. It is conceived as a space for reflection and dialogue on Water and sustainable development from innovation. The scientific community, institutions, international bodies, states, operators and water managers, as well as the public, are invited to participate. The main objective of the tribune is encouraging to generate a new social conscience, adopted new values on the government and sustainable use of water. To achieve this, a series of structural activities will be organised.
With more than 3.400 shows and cultural activities, from great events to small entertainment shows, Expo Zaragoza will have a very diverse programme, aimed at different audiences.
‘It is the Expo, it’s Zaragoza 2008, the festival of the world’, as the organisers call it.
