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A specific proposal, to establish the Aflaj Museum – has been envisioned to link diverse
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solutions that involve society in managing scarce water resources through history. Here,
several important considerations will come together, related to the Aflaj as Cultural Sites

used to achieve socio-economic as well as political goals, stimulating narratives related to the
identity of those who used to live in the area, while also implicating contemporary practices.

Other related initiatives have been proposed as avenues to link divergent spaces, thereby

creating fertile common ground for creative common experience and discovery. GIS-based
applications coupled with virtual reality tools, can be applied in the field, to help locate, flag,

and interpret real-world expressions of heritage and culture. A particular project agenda,
where Oman and the Middle East form part of a wider web, relates to the mythical trade

routes of the past, by land and sea interrelated - the silk road, spices trade, and that of

frankincense. History’s shaping of the interfaces between past civilisations could thereby be
brought “back to life”, paving new ground for people to gauge the way civilisations have

been shaped, our identities arisen and evolved.

Through such ventures, if co-created, new content and potential could be framed for internal

and external tourism framing customized itineraries (cultural, leisure, marine, mountain, etc.).

The result is a practice of cultural storytelling allowing citizens, tourists, and all, to re-
discover, experience and even participate in local journeys and production processes.

Enabled by GIS and associated technologies, a cultural-tourist enhancement of ancient
mountain villages and hinterlands may emerge. Alternative expressions of heritage can be

imagined and launched by young and old, women and men, problematizing multiple ways in
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which the past induces the present, personally and collectively.

4.5) Centre of Knowledge -- A Global Water Platform

A Resource base is needed and hereby proposed to be established, a service of the global
community affected by and in search of solutions related to water. The establishment process

should reflect synergetic leverage of relevance to multiple actors, breeding a cascade of direct

22 Proposal by Prof. Abdullah al Ghafri, University of Nizwa, Oman, envisioning a showcase of scientific
design and concepts blended with visitor experience and engagement, a collection of the History of Tangible
and Intangible Heritage meeting with the present.
23 Strategy developed by Dr. Giovanna Zavettieri, Rome Tor Vergata, Rome.

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