GIVE BISSES A CHANCE

Voices of Water #1 

Water and its many functions: bisses, dams and the water management of tomorrow.
How can the many functions of water coexist within a single territory? 

Irrigation, energy production, supplying populations, preserving natural environments, shaping landscapes: today, the same water meets a wide range of purpose. 

This first „Voices of Water“ event explores this multifunctionality, with a particular focus on bisses and dams. It begins in the field, with a guided walk along the Bisse de Miriouge and the surrounding lakes, to observe how water is concretely woven into the landscape and the history of the region. At Fondation Opale, scientists, managers and local stakeholders will then bring different approaches to water management into dialogue: bisses, dams, the Lienne-Raspille project and the Commune of Lens‘ „sponge municipality“ initiative. 

Programme 

2:00–4:00 PM
Guided walk along the Bisse de Miriouge and the lakes, with Emmanuel Reynard, professor of physical geography at the University of Lausanne (UNIL), and Martin Bagnoud, independent historian and scientific collaborator at the Musée valaisan des Bisses. 

4:30–6:00 PM
Lectures and round table discussion at Fondation Opale: The multifunctionality of water – bisses, dams and territorial projects 

From 6:00 PM
Aperitif and discussion 

This meeting opens Les Voix de l’eau (Voices of Water), a series of scientific encounters co-organised by the Musée valaisan des Bisses and CIRM-UNIL. 

Voices of Water is not about presenting the bisses as an unfamiliar subject, nor about adding another monograph to their history. It is about bringing into dialogue voices that have rarely been heard together until now: scientists, irrigators, consortages, artists, residents, ecologists, legal experts, farmers, Oman and its aflaj, glaciers, soils, landscapes, future generations… 

In 1946, Hermann Müller wrote that „practically everything has already been said about the bisses of Valais.“ Yet in 1994, Bernard Crettaz called for their study to be renewed through cross-cutting and interdisciplinary perspectives. Thirty years on, we propose to carry this path forward: not simply to speak about the bisses once more, but to listen to the voices of water.  

Each generation eventually asks the same question anew: what do we still have to say about the bisses? Our answer: perhaps less to say about them than to understand alongside them. Over the course of more than a year, around fifteen encounters will give voice to those who know, use, study, manage and envision the bisses and water more broadly. Lectures, hikes, round tables, symposiums, practical courses and international meetings will bring together scientific knowledge, field experience, expertise and visions for the future.  

Free event – registration required
Registration required at contact@musee-des-bisses.ch  

Photo credit: Lac de Moiry © Andrea Savoy