The World Canals Conference gathers experts and enthusiasts from all over the world to share innovative practices related to economic and community development, waterway management, tourism, and historic preservation along inland waterways around the globe.
On its 200th anniversary, the Erie Canal provides the perfect backdrop for the 2025 conference. Discover how the same spirit of innovation that built the canal and transformed America is revitalizing the Erie Canal for future generations.
Canals today are faced with many of the same challenges and opportunities throughout the world. WCC 2025 brings together the leading minds in their fields, all working toward sustaining our multidimensional waterways and transforming them for the realities of our future.
Experience the best of New York’s canals with curated tours exclusive to registered WCC 2025 attendees and their guests. Arrive early, stay late, and have fun!
The Buffalo Maritime Center has constructed a traditionally built, full-sized replica of the Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief that opened the Erie Canal in 1825. Pulled by a historic tugboat and accompanied by a flotilla, the bicentennial voyage departure of the Seneca Chief will be a highlight of WCC 2025.
2025 marks the 200th year of the Erie Canal. Come see what the next century will bring as we honor a legacy of innovation by turning our hearts and minds toward a future of sustained relevancy marked by epic transformation and reinvention.
Each day at WCC will be packed with opportunities to learn, network, and enjoy once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Attendees will select from four exclusive, full-day field sessions. Choose from exciting guided encounters ranging from spending a day with the innovators rolling up their sleeves daily to transform the Erie Canal, to walking the path of African Americans escaping slavery in the 1800s.