Ms. Gretchen Kalonji UNESCO Assistant Director General for Natural Sciences visited the International Center on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures (ICQHS) on Sunday, 12 May, 2013. She shared her ideas and experiences on desert and qanat technologies with the other attendees. “I would like to share my love for desert, when I found myself in a desert this morning. My grandmother lived in Mexico southwest of the US in the desert area. I’ve always loved desert” Ms. Kalonji said in ICQHS at a meeting attended by Yazd governor, secretary general of UNESCO national commission, director of Yazd regional water authority and some dignitaries of Yazd. She continued with talking about her visits to the other UNESCO centers based in Tehran and Isfahan. “I am impressed by the interaction that Iranians have with UNESCO” she said. Ms. Kalonji pointed out the activities ever done by ICQHS as the only UNESCO international center in Iran. “The performance of ICQHS is absolutely outstanding and I am glad to hear that its agreement has recently renewed by UNESCO. This center enjoys a strong reputation around the world, and it is a good example of what UNESCO should be doing to bring together technical aspects, scientific aspects and social aspects on a very important topic” she added. Ms. Kalonji underlined the interdisciplinary nature of ICQHS which has reconciled different fields of science, humanities and technology to better shed light on the reality of qanat and other historic hydraulic structures. “I always highlight a better connection between different sections of UNESCO, you know we’ve got scientific section, cultural section, etc in UNESCO and ICQHS can be a good example of putting together these different fields as it is involved in them all” Ms. Kalonji said. She thanked the Iranian government for the support and attention that they always bestow on UNESCO centers in Iran.
