We are a UNESCO water related center which fulfills its mission under the auspices of this organization. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran formally submitted to UNESCO a detailed proposal for the establishment of the International Center on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures in Yazd, Iran under the auspices of UNESCO, which finally met with the 32nd session of the General Conference of UNESCO’s approval. According to this approval, an agreement on the establishment of the center was signed by the director general of UNESCO and the Iran’s minister of energy on March 26th 2005. Following that agreement, the Headquarters for the International Center on Qanats and Historic, Hydraulic Structures was designed and built in Yazd. This building, with an area of 2000 square meters is located downtown surrounded by some other research centers in Yazd. It enjoys a dome-like roof and an octagonal building with a pool in the middle reminding us of the Qanat vestibules.
What We Do
We are focused on:
Missions and Objectives
The main mission of the International Center on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures is emphasis on recognition, transfer of knowledge and experiences, promotion of information and capacities with regard to all the aspects of Qanat technology and other historic hydraulic structures to fulfill sustainable development of water resources and the public welfare within the communities whose existence depend on the rational exploitation of the resources and preservation of such historical structures.
Another mission is to promote research and development to restore the Qanats and the other traditional historic hydraulic structures for sustainable development objectives through International cooperation and global transfer of knowledge and technology.
Preservation of cultural values regarding the materialistic and spiritual frameworks is another important objective of the Center.
Governing Board
According to the agreement on the establishment of ICQHS signed between Director General of UNESCO and representative of the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran:
1. The International Center shall be administered by a Governing Board composed of:
(a) A representative of the Government,
(b) A representative of each of the other Member States that (1) have sent the Director-General of the Organization notification, and (2) make a substantial contribution to the operating budget or running of the International Centre, and are thus accorded a seat by a decision of the Governing Board.
(c) A representative of the Director-General of the Organization.
(d) Director of RCUWM-Tehran, and
(e) a representative of any other intergovernmental organization or international nongovernmental organization making a substantial contribution to the operating budget or running of the International Centre and accorded a seat by a decision of the Governing Board.
2. The Minister of Energy of the Islamic Republic of Iran or the person he/she designates shall be the representative of the Government, who shall also be the Chairperson of the Governing Board.
3. The Governing Board shall have all the powers required for the running and administration of the International Centre. It shall:
(a) Approve the annual plan and budget of the International Center;
(b) Examine the annual reports submitted by the Director of the International Center as provided under Article VI below;
(c) Study and approve the Center’s internal procedures, including financial regulations.
4. The Governing Board shall meet in ordinary session once a year; it shall meet in an extraordinary session if summoned by the Chairperson, either on his own initiative or on that of the Director-General of the Organization, or at the request of at least half of its members.
5. The Governing Board shall adopt its own rules of procedure. For the first meeting the procedures shall be established by the representative of the Government and the Organization.
Qanat College
Following the First International Conference on Qanat which was held in Yazd in May 2000, establishing a higher education unit to train a skilled and effective manpower in order to manage the Qanats of the country was emphasized and after some efforts and following up here in, in late June 2003 the Ministry of Energy established the Qanat College that continues its activities so far, and from the standpoint of of organizational chart, the center is directly affiliated to " Institute for Energy and Hydro Technology “(IEHT)".
This college covers an area of 4000 square meters in the center of Taft as the only specialized center in the field of Qanat training and also at present it ranked among the best applied scientific and educational centers of Ministry of Energy across the country with the bachelor courses of groundwater field.
The center is supposed to train young and enthusiastic people for exploitation and preservation of more than 34,000 running Qanats in the country as well as transferring the knowledge and experience of predecessors and old experts, and teaching the new science and technologies.
