ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the understanding of the vitality and plurality of cultural heritage can provide a deeper comprehension of the challenges and successes of water diplomacy practices starting from the community scale. Two case studies for this chapter are taken from the author’s own engagement with various active actors in al-Ghab Plain in the middle Orontes Basin in Syria between 2016 and 2022. Regarding the first aspect, which is the vitality of heritage, I want to delve into the examples of negotiations that communities conduct to access water. As for the second aspect, which is plural heritage, I focused my argument on the importance of understanding the variety of heritages in influencing people’s perception of themselves and the formation of their ambitions and grievances. This attempt has been made by recalling pasts and linking those pasts to collective behavior during the ongoing armed conflict. Thus, I argue that attention to heritage as “living practices” is essential not only for understanding community-scale water diplomacy but also for understanding community resilience and for designing sustainable development interventions.
