On Thursday 26th of September, the Tribunal de les Aigües had a meeting in public session in Puerta de los Apóstoles, as it has been doing for more than a millennium, ensuring the fair use and distribution of water in the Horta of València. This was a special session to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the inscription of the Tribunal de les Aigües de la Vega de València on the representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humannity by UNESCO.

The traditional ceremony was attended by the Principal of the Universitat de València, Maria Vicenta Mestre; the councillor for Participation, Transparency, Cooperation and Democratic Quality, Rosa Pérez; and the sub-delegate of the Government in València, José Roberto González, among other personalities. At the end of the event, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition in the Valencian Government, Mireia Mollà, joined in. At the end of the Court’s session, representatives of other elements of the Valencian Intangible Cultural Heritage took part, such as the Mare de Déu de la Salut d’Algemesí festival, the Valencian Fallas festival, the tamboradas of Alzira and Alcora.

Onofre Cubells, President of Tribunal de les Aigües, has explained that “the celebration of the 10^th Anniversary has served for making obvious in a global range the cultural and environmental values of the traditional Valencian culture of irrigation that represents the Tribunal de les Aigües”. In that line, the President of Tribunal de les Aigües has appreciated the support of the public, academic and politic Valencian institutions, that had collaborated in 2019 in the design of activities to amplify the impact of the commemoration.

For her part, the Principal Maria Vicenta Mestre has pointed out the support of the academic institution: “the Universitat de València has a great commitment with the Valencian territory and it is at the service of the Valencian society; for that reason, we are supporting the Tribunal de les Aigües, which is heritage for the people of Valencia”. The Principal has insisted on the need of an environmental awareness, pointing out that “the water is a scarce resource, we must make the most of it properly and looking ahead. The Valencian people have in our territory the tradition of a good use, an lively awareness of its natural and cultural value”.

The Universitat de València, through the through the Office of the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society, has collaborated with the Tribunal de les Aigües in the making of an activity programme and commemorative acts that are taking place during 2019 in honour of Tribunal de les Aigües of València. In these acts stand out the 3rd International Conference of the Global Network of Water Museums, a meeting that took place on June, in collaboration with Global Network of Water Museums (WAMU-NET), in which a hundred people from twenty different countries took part in. During this year, there are also training days in the territory whose aim is to make the cultural and environmental values of the Valencian traditional culture of irrigation visible and to bring to light the historical trajectory of the Tribunal de les Aigües.