Amsterdam, through its water
Stories from the water, told on the sidewalk.
Showing the essential role of water in our daily life through video's, articles and audio tours.
Not a museum, not a campaign; a public conversation.
We help Amsterdammers understand their own water system, then talk about it on the streets.
Start with one story
Read, watch or listen to a short story about the water right next to you: the bridge you cross every morning, the canal you never noticed, the neighbor who lives on it.
See the city as a water system
Amsterdam stops being buildings and streets. It becomes a working water system: locks, pumps, quays, houseboats, and the people who keep it running.
Take it to the sidewalk
Share what you learned with a friend on a walk, a colleague on a coffee break, a stranger at a bridge. That's where a Sidewalk Story starts.
Water stories.
Lonely? Get a boat!
How water culture brings people together
The cost of the canals
How Amsterdam's wealthiest period had the highest costs
Entering the 'parasol phase'
How the Dutch umbrella, once the symbol of rain, is becoming a sign of heat
One story a week about Amsterdam's water.
What's changing on the canals, who is working on it, and what Amsterdammers are actually saying about their water. Short, specific, and free.
Two audio walks, in your pocket.
Two audio walks so far, with more on the way. Walk at your own pace as we share our favorite stories on and along the water.
Know a person on the water?
The woman who owns a boat wharf. The man who fishes with magnets. Let us know, and we might go and find them.
8:34pm, golden hour, no other boats. Life is good.
“Ask a houseboat resident what it's actually like to live on the water.”
— Luca
Fun fact: every few days the sluices open at night and 600 million liters is pumped through the city so the water doesn't turn into a swamp.
Drinks along the water: Neef van Fred.