Focus and Scope

The journal Agua y Territorio / Water and Landscape (AYT / WAL) is a digital publication, of a biannual nature, with free access, whose objective is to address from different scientific fields the problem of the use and management of water and its use for sustainable development. In particular, it covers the following topics:

    a) Public policies and citizen participation. Proper water management is the main tool for solving water supply and sanitation problems in today’s society. In this area, the social participation and citizen movements are perceived as the element capable of countering the environmental and social conflicts that arise around water. The study of water companies, their evolution and the assessment of their levels of failure and success also occupy an important place in this line of research.

    b) Water as a natural resource: development and environmental models. The accelerated industrial, urban and demographic development of the past two centuries has been a major challenge in preserving the quality of water and its natural environments. It has also had to deal with the major problem of supplying drinking water to a growing population and counteracting the polluting potential of water.

    c) Water and landscape. Water has shaped human events since prehistoric times and has also shaped the rural landscape in a characteristic way. Water landscapes are a clear example of the multiple facets of water as a configurator of territories in which cultures that have left their mark on the landscape have developed.

    d) Water and memory. Throughout the historical relations that humans have had with water, it has marked the memory of many generations that have elaborated a peculiar culture associated with it: fountains, canals, ditches, beliefs, festivities, among many other manifestations, have constituted the rich material and immaterial heritage that societies have left to present generations. In this area, it is important to be able to gather the testimonies of the generation that has experienced the end of the whole system of classic water supply, witnessing the emergence of modern systems of supply and sanitation.

    e) Water and health. Water has been intimately linked to health issues since many human groups settled near rivers or springs. Since then, the quality of water in human environments has been a clear symptom of the quality of life that characterized them.

    f) Water resources. The importance of water for the maintenance of life has motivated humanity to try to solve since ancient times multiple challenges such as how to obtain it, store it, transport it... , giving rise to a rich and varied material heritage, but also to multiple forms of intangible heritage linked to water and its way of use and management.

The journal is promoted by the Permanent Seminar Water, Territory and Environment (Escuela de Estudios Hispanoamericanos, CSIC), and is edited electronically by the University of Jaen.

The journal is aimed at the scientific community, which from various scientific perspectives is interested in the social, economic, territorial and historical approaches that enable water studies in the Ibero-American and Mediterranean context.

The journal will encourage exchanges of experience across the Atlantic on common themes. These issues will be addressed both in the Dossier and in the Miscellaneous section. The research lines of the Permanent Seminar will also be taken into account: the economic, environmental, cultural, health and social implications of water policies. The journal arises with the idea of serving as a platform for studies on water in the Mediterranean and Ibero-American context, from a multidisciplinary perspective and a broad geographical coverage that gathers very diverse realities, with economic differences, very marked social, cultural and environmental. Therefore, in addition to this broad theme, the journal addresses it from very different territories, with heterogeneous physical bases.

The publication of the journal Agua y Territorio / Water and Landscape (AYT / WAL) aims to achieve a publication of quality and prestige. For this reason, we want to meet the requirements required in the best academic and scientific journals, both in their formal aspect and in their scientific quality. Therefore, regularity in publishing, double anonymous evaluation, the participation of authors external to the Editorial and Advisory Board are essential points for its development. At the same time, a complete transparency in the selection process of the articles is sought.

Another important objective is to achieve the widest possible dissemination of published articles through compliance with quality standards and through electronic support.

It is essential to stimulate the spaces for dialogue between the different scientific disciplines interested in observing the management of water, its social appropriation and transformation into resources. To achieve this, it is proposed to create a space for dialogue between disciplines, groups of researchers and stakeholders in the very diverse and complex water issues.

Agua y Territorio / Water and Landscape (AYT / WAL) aims to serve as an instrument for consultation between social groups and governments involved in the many conflicts and disputes over the use of water, the search for a new development model and the promotion of possible alternatives to contain the degradation of ecosystems.