The cultural dimension of the water-health nexus

Access to adequate freshwater – in terms of both quantity and quality – is broadly recognized as an irreplaceable factor in the health and prosperity of individuals and societies. Yet water also has an omnipresent cultural dimension. How water is culturally managed and used, for example, has a strong impact on the occurrence and burden of water-related diseases. The value people place on water also constitutes an integral part of their cultural identity and plays an important role in their well-being. To this effect, (i) physical activity, (ii) contemplative experience, (iii) social connectedness and (iv) symbolic values are all health-relevant dimensions to how water is experienced and used.  

For those living close to the many revitalized urban river promenades in the European Region, for example, health and well-being can be impacted through: rowing, running and skating; visual, acoustical and even olfactory enjoyment of the riverine landscape; meetings with friends, colleagues and relatives along the shore; and remembering, experiencing and reflecting on the symbolic potencies of water. These health-relevant dimensions of water have been empirically confirmed in very different settings and among diverse populations, for example, inhabitants of east African wetlands. In health discourses, however, these manifold health impacts of the cultural dimensions of water still tend to be underestimated or even ignored.  

Healthy blue spaces – health-enabling places and spaces where water is at the centre of a range of environments with identifiable potential for the promotion of human health and well-being – comprise the relationships and bodily experiences of health and place. They are relational spaces of intersubjective encounter, diverse physical activity and shared, deep-rooted meanings for individuals, groups and populations. 

Photo by Artem Militonían on Unsplash