The WWAP Secretariat, initially hosted at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, has transferred its offices to Umbria in Italy. The Umbrian Region has generously assigned UNESCO the use of the Villa La Colombella in the municipality of Perugia. WWAP has based its headquarters at the Villa, where it also hosts capacity-building activities and other events jointly with partner organizations.

WWAP is pleased to present its new facilities in Perugia and to share this beautiful, historic site with the extended international water community.

Main Building - Villa La Colombella

Reception Area

Conference Rooms

Meeting Rooms

Casa Colonica and Limonaia

Geography & background: Perugia & Villa La Colombella

Situated east of Tuscany, Umbria is known as "Il Cuore verde d’Italia", the Green Heart of Italy. The Umbrian landscape is one of gently rolling hills where silver-green olive groves are interspersed with deeper greens of vineyards and natural woodland.

Perugia, the capital of Umbria, is an Etruscan city founded in the sixth century B.C. and is rich with history. A renowned tourist destination, Perugia is also home to two universities, the Università degli Studi di Perugia (University of Perugia) and the Università per Stranieri (University for Foreigners). Located in the centre of Italy, 176 km north of Rome and 160 km southeast of Florence, Perugia has a population of 160,000.

Colombella is part of the municipality of Perugia. During the 17th century, Colombella’s castle was modified to become a residence and its name changed to Villa La Colombella.

WWAP Facilities at Villa La Colombella

The facility consists of four buildings on two hectares of property. The Villa is the main building, where most events are hosted. It offers the following facilities:

• a reception area,
• two conference rooms that can accommodate up to ninety people each,
• four meeting rooms that can accommodate approximately sixteen people each,
• a computer lab with twenty desktop PCs available for guests.

Two additional buildings, the Casa Colonica and the Limonaia host the WWAP Secretariat offices.

The hotel wing consists of sixty-five rooms, of which twelve have been refurbished as offices and for lodging to host WWAP’s guests.

Using the WWAP Villa La Colombella Facilities

Partner organisations are welcome to hold water-related events in WWAP premises. Please consult the calendar below to check the availability of the premises and contact us (wwap@unesco.org) should you require additional information or would like to make a request for the organisation of an event.