Inland Waterways International
Campaigning for inland waterways since 1995
IWI is an international organisation established in 1992 to bring together people and organisations that support the worldwide conservation, use, development and appropriate management and promotion of inland waterways. We are guided by a succinct set of five core principles.
We raise public awareness of the benefits of using waterways for a wide range of activities, from inland water transport to cruising, walking, cycling and other recreational uses, as well as appreciating their landscape and architectural heritage. We also promote appropriate restoration and regeneration of waterways that have become derelict.
Our work is achieved through a broad membership, whose diverse skills and interests are of enormous benefit to what we do. Please join us.
Norman E. Smith
We are sad to report that our treasurer from 2014 to 2024, Norman Edward Smith, died aged 86 on 25th April in Warneton, Belgium. Father of Johanna Taylor-Smith and her late twin brother Martin Smith, Norman was an accountant and financial management consultant. He was first employed as an industrial accountant by companies in London and Kent before moving to France in 1982. Initially employed by a firm run by British accountants in Paris, he handled the business of a number of clients in Northern France, one of whom was the pioneering French hotel barge operator John Liley. He moved north to Lille in 1988 to set up his own business. Initially self-employed, he founded Transmanche Consultants in 1997. He joined IWI in 2009, attended the World Canals Conference in Groningen in 2011, and became treasurer in 2014. His interest in inland waterways had developed during hire boat holidays in England with his parents. In Northern France and Belgium, he regularly observed traffic along the river Lys, where he lived on the Belgian side until his death. He was also a music lover, devoted to the Lille National Orchestra and its musicians, promoting their talents through the association Chambre à Part. The funeral service will be held on 30th April, at 3 pm, in the ceremony hall of Rotsaert Funeral Home in Warneton. A celebration of his life’s involvement in organisations promoting his passions – classical music and inland waterways – will be held in Lille in June (date to be announced). The family would welcome donations to IWI (as well as to the classical music association Chambre à Part in Lille).
Membership magazine
Members of Inland Waterways International receive a printed magazine.
If you are not yet a member. If you are not yet a member and would like to receive in-depth news of campaigns and developments around the world, then join IWI to guarantee you receive this magazine by post.
WCC Buffalo: Erie Canal bicentenary
Almost 500 waterway professionals, engineers, experts, enthusiasts, and officials gathered in Buffalo, NY, USA for a highly successful four-day World Canals Conference. WCC 2025 marked the 200thanniversary of the completion of the Erie Canal. The program included presentation sessions, study tours, and the send-off of the Seneca Chief, a replica of the canal boat that led the procession from Buffalo to New York City in the
Inland Waterways Pavilion
IWI is supporting a collective effort to relaunch the Inland Waterways Pavilion at BOOT Düsseldorf on 17-25 January 2026. The opportunity is presented by the BOOT organising team in a brochure available to download here. The Pavilion, last organised in January 2020, is the ideal venue to welcome strongly motivated visitors and expand your markets in waterway activities and destinations.
WCC 2025 in Buffalo!
View this excellent video inviting waterway professionals, operators, experts and enthusiasts to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal at the World Canals Conference in Buffalo, NY, on September 21-25! View here or on IWI’s YouTube Channel
14th Marlog conference in Alexandria
IWI is proud to be partnering with the Arab Academy for Science Technology & Maritime Transport in broadening the scope of the 14th international conference on Maritime Logistics, to take place in Alexandria, Egypt, on 24-25 February 2025. Researchers from both organisations worked on PIANC Working Group 219, to produce a report on Guidelines for Inland Waterways Infrastructure to Facilitate Tourism. Another report by Working
Leipzig seeks original boat passage
The new Lake District south of Leipzig has been aiming at interconnected waters since the start of the open-cast mine reclamation project 30 years ago. Several locks have been opened, as shown on our plan. Now a feasibility study has been launched to explore options for a boat passage between Cospuden Lake and Zwenkau Lake. Various options and variants are to be examined to provide
Ruth Heard RIP
IWI is sad to announce the death of Ruth Heard, a member for many years, and former president of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, on 5 October. Ruth was a well respected waterway historian who wrote extensively about the Irish waterways under the name Ruth Delany. (She kept the name from her first marriage to Vincent Delany, the founder of IWAI.) She contributed the
Robin Evans, first CEO of CRT
IWI is sad to report that Robin Evans, who presided over the transformation of British Waterways into the independent Canal & River Trust in 2012, died in early September after a short illness. Robin joined British Waterways in 1999 as commercial director, becoming chief executive in 2002. Alongside chairman Tony Hales, Robin led the work to develop the concept of a new charity for the
Baťa Canal extended
Ninety years after it was opened in the Eastern Moravia region of the Czech Republic, the Baťa Canal is being extended for recreational navigation. IWI’s upcoming magazine (issue No. 39) will give details of this ambitious project implemented by the Directorate of Waterways of the Czech Republic in partnership with the region and local authorities. When the current works are complete, the waterway will extend from Kroměříž
WCC Bydgoszcz success
The World Canals Conference reverted to an on-site event in June 2024 after an on-line version in 2023. The event was based in Bydgoszcz in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region of Poland, where the Rivers Brda and Wisła (Vistula) meet, along with the old and new Bydgoszcz Canals.
Boats demonstrate for UK canals at Westminster
IWI is supporting a new campaign, Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW), recently launched by the Inland Waterways Association. FBW is a coalition of organisations representing hundreds of thousands of users and supporters of inland waterways. The aim is to secure more permanent and stable funding for the country’s waterways, which are currently facing the challenges of keeping vulnerable infrastructure safe and operational, with severely limited resources.