UPDATE - December 2011 - Unesco-IHE

INTERVIEW | Chris Kalden retires
SPECIAL | Capacity Development
IN FOCUS | Reinventing Sanitation
POPULAR SCIENCE | Predicting rejection emerging contaminants
MAGAZINE
UNESCO-IHE
INSTITUTE
FOR WATER
EDUCATION
UPDATE
DECEMBER
2011
1
Meeting global
water challenges
Welcome to a new issue of UPDATE Magazine, presenting the highly
diverse activities of the Institute in education, research and capacity
development. This issue highlights the changes taking place at the
Institute as we move toward a global campus, pursuing enhanced and
effective international academic collaboration and intensifying existing
relations with partners and institutes in international learning alliances.
The global campus will be an interdisciplinary environment in which
a new generation of water professionals is able to explore insights into
water problems from many different perspectives, and contribute to
the development of creative, integrated and sustainable solutions. The
resulting water leaders will blend solid knowledge and understanding
of one discipline with cognitive competencies outside that discipline,
enhanced by an effective combination of functional, personal and ethical
competencies.
ARE YOU AN
ALUMNUS?
Internal changes are needed to support this shift toward a global campus,
reflecting the aim to provide a broad range of knowledge without
overlooking the need for in-depth expertise in specific fields. Following
these internal reforms, the Delft Institute will have three academic
departments, in line with the global developments in scientific research
and education in the field of water and environment: Water Science
and Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Technology, and
Integrated Water Systems and Governance. This structure ensures that
the departments are sufficiently distinct in academic orientation and
approaches to water systems, while through a systems approach enabling
synergies to be found in project activities.
We are living in an international
world where email is the fastest
way of keeping in touch across
the globe. UNESCO-IHE follows
this trend and we are increasingly
sending you information by email.
Do not hesitate to get in touch
with us and send us your most
up-to-date contact details. Your
details will only be used to send
you information about UNESCOIHE. We will respect your privacy
at all times and will not share your
information with others without
your prior consent.
UNESCO-IHE looks forward to working with its students, researchers,
alumni and partners to meet the global challenges in the water sector.
Together, we have a key task in transferring knowledge and research to
achieve the world’s development goals over the next decade. I wish you
all the best in the new year, and look forward to continuing our mutual
efforts to respond to the global water challenges.
Enjoy reading this issue of UPDATE Magazine!
Professor András Szöllösi-Nagy
Rector, UNESCO-IHE
editorial board
Erwin Ploeger
Joop de Schutter
András Szöllösi-Nagy
Stefan Uhlenbrook
editorial committee
Giuliano Di Baldassarre
Jan Willem Foppen
Jeltsje Kemerink
Jan Herman Koster
Henk Lubberding
editor-in-chief
Alida Pham
sub-editor
Joy Maul-Phillips
coordination
Manuela Porceddu
2
editorial
contributions
Laura Kwak
Leonardo Alfonso
Ewoud Kok
Jan Nonner
Jeltsje Kemerink
Joy Maul-Philips
Uta Wehn de Montalvo
Raymond Gijssen
Jos Wassink
Abraham Mehari Haile
design
Peter Stroo
print
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The Editorial Committee reserves the
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UPDATE Magazine is interested in
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about the magazine
UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water
Education produces a biennial magazine
called UPDATE. We print 15,000 free
copies per issue, which are sent to our
counterparts across the world. UPDATE
features institutional information
related to water education, research
and capacity development activities
undertaken by UNESCO-IHE, its alumni
and partners.
We try to make every issue of UPDATE
Magazine as eco-friendly as possible.
The paper used to make this UPDATE
is produced by Sappi and is one of the
Triple Star papers delivered to us by
Papyrus. This paper is PEFC certified.
PEFC stands for the Programme for the
Endorsement of Forest Certification,
an independent, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that works
with forest managers, paper and timber
companies and their external certifiers
to assure that the world’s forests are
managed sustainably for the benefit of
future generations.
institute for water education
UNESCO-IHE is the largest
international postgraduate water
education institute in the world and
authorised to confer accredited
MSc degrees and promote PhDs.
The mission of UNESCO-IHE is to
contribute to the education and training
of professionals and to develop the
capacity of sector organizations,
knowledge centres and other
institutions active in the fields of water,
the environment and infrastructure, in
developing countries and countries in
transition.
Since 1957, the Institute has provided
postgraduate education to over
14,500 water professionals from
over 160 countries, the vast majority
of whom come from the developing
world. Currently the Institute counts
130 registered PhD fellows, and
numerous research and capacity
development projects are carried out
throughout the world.
4|
8 |
4
Interview with
Chris Kalden,
UNESCO-IHE
Board Member
Reinventing
sanitation,
through education
and research
8
10
10 |
19 |
19
ABOUT THE COVER
The frontcover photo shows an engineer working for NGO CARE International. He is standing
in front of a water tower built to provide clean
drinking water to the remote coastal villages of
the Mudug region in Puntland, Somalia.
Photo © Frederic Courbet / Panos
18
Capacity
Development
Special
KULTURisk
Cultivating a culture
of risk prevention
2 | Global news
7 | Column: Development cooperation in
river basins
10 | University Teaching Qualification
Revitalisation of Port Development Courses
18 | Climate Change adaptation São Tomé
20 | Popular science
21 | Publications
22 | How to kill the floods
24 | Past events
26 | Staff news
27 | Opinon: The right vehicle for whom?
28 | Online water resources
29 | Course information 2012-2013
The backcover photo shows a river meanders
its way to Lake Bangweulu, Zambia. Seventeen
rivers flow into this permanent water feature.
Photo © Kieran Dodds / Panos
1
GLOBAL NEWS
DELFT | AUGUST
ENERGY | SEPTEMBER
TAIWAN | SEPTEMBER
IGRAC MOVES IN
Agreement signed
with International
Hydropower
Association
EARTH WATER
CHINA TOUR
The International Groundwater Resource Assessment Centre
(IGRAC) has recently relocated to the UNESCO-IHE offices in
Delft. UPDATE briefly spoke with Neno Kukuric, a UNESCOIHE alumnus, who currently heads the Centre, about the
move, priority areas and possible linkages with UNESCO-IHE.
“The decision to move from the former offices of Deltares in
Utrecht to Delft, was very much related to the change in status
of IGRAC,” he elaborates. “As of June this year, IGRAC was
formally adopted as a UNESCO Category 2 Institute, an independent foundation operating under the auspices of UNESCO
and the World Meteorological Organization, supported by the
Government of the Netherlands. Being also close in proximity
to UNESCO-IHE, our sister organization was only the next
logical step.”
IGRAC is about groundwater and international cooperation.
It facilitates and promotes global sharing of information and
knowledge required for sustainable groundwater resources
development and management. “Our core activity is the
(content and process) support to the assessment of transboundary aquifers. Since the establishment of the centre eight
years ago, the results of IGRAC assessments have been used
by policymakers, researchers, consultants, various international organizations and even by the general public. Involved
aquifer-sharing states could also be pointed out as the main
beneficiaries of our work when bearing in mind that the transboundary assessment is our main commitment.”
UNESCO-IHE and the International Hydropower
Association (IHA) recently signed an agreement
to cooperate in the field of water requirements for
energy production.
This partnership aims to build consensus around
a classification & weighting system of different
types of energy impacts on water and contribute to
existing water-energy research. Also, the feasibility
of assigning a water footprint of hydropower will
be tested and collaboration will be sought in the
preparation of water and energy targets for WWF6
Marseille. Finally synergies will be identified in the
strengthening of centers of excellence in relation to
post-graduate education.
m.marence@unesco-ihe.org
Earth Water was founded on the simple
concept, ‘If you had the chance, would
you change the world?’. It is Earth
Water’s mandate to give 100% of its
net profits to sustainable water projects.
In order to get the money to where it is
needed the most as effectively and efficiently as possible, Earth Water will collaborate more closely with Akvo.org and
UNESCO-IHE. Akvo.org creates open
source web and mobile software, and
builds networks of skilled partners who
can change the way development aid is
allocated and reported about. Since June
of this year, UNESCO-IHE endorses the
sale of Earth Water and Earth Coffee by
mobilizing its large international network of alumni and partners in various
developing countries around the world
to share their projects on Akvo.org to
raise awareness and funds for their
projects. Earth Water is currently being
sold in various supermarkets, convenient stores, hotels, restaurants, etc. in
the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria,
Switzerland, Belgium, France, Portugal
and also more recently in Asia.
Contact Patrick de Nekker for more
details (patrick@earthwater.nl).
AFRICA | SEPTEMBER
“Our priority in the coming years is to strengthen our support
to groundwater management in the context of global change,”
he continues. “Population growth and climate variability
are increasing the pressure on groundwater resources while
there is no systematic monitoring of groundwater change
at the global scale. Therefore, IGRAC is setting up a Global
Groundwater Monitoring Network (GGMN) that is necessary
for a periodic assessment of the global change of groundwater resources. In parallel, IGRAC will continue to work
on improving and implementing climate change adaptation
measures. Working closely with UNESCO-IHE (groundwater
education and training), IGRAC (groundwater assessment
and promotion) are y two sides of the same coin: our common
goal is to fully benefit from the available groundwater resources in a sustainable manner. If we join forces, we can offer
and achieve more. There are already several initiatives and
proposals in preparation for possible joint projects. Finally,
UNESCO-IHE current participants and alumni are very
welcome to visit us in the building on the 3rd floor or contact
us for additional info about IGRAC and/or to discuss the possibility for cooperation with IGRAC in their home countries.
www.un-igrac.org
2
Establishing networks to improving groundwater
in Middle East and
North Africa
UNESCO-IHE has just signed a 2.2 million Euro
contract with USAID for the proposal ‘Establishing
a collaborative knowledge sub-network to improve
groundwater resources in the Middle East and North
Africa’. The project will be undertaken by a consortium of institutions affiliated with the International
Center for Integrated Water Resources Management
(ICIWaRM), a UNESCO Category 2 water center.
The project will link technical institutions from across
the MENA region with leading US universities and
UNESCO-IHE in a highly collaborative programme
to improve groundwater resources management.
Activities will bridge the gap between research and
policy by addressing real-life groundwater related
problems of immediate interest to policy makers.
Research outputs will be disseminated in the form
of policy and planning tools that can be adapted by
relevant government agencies.
j.luijendijk@unesco-ihe.org
www.earth-water.org
AFRICA | SEPTEMBER
ILLINOIS | NOVEMBER
Developing
capacities of
water utilities
in East Africa
Rotary grants
Masters of Science
scholarships
EuropeAid recently granted UNESCOIHE and partners 1 Million Euros for
a project to develop capacities for the
performance improvement of water
utilities in secondary urban centres in
East Africa. The 5-year project entitled
“Capacity Development for Performance
Improvement of Water Utilities in
Secondary Urban Centres in East Africa”
will be jointly undertaken with the
National Water and Sewerage Corporation
in Uganda, the Rift Valley Water Services
Board in Kenya, the Rwanda Water and
Sanitation Corporation in Rwanda, the
Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage
Corporation in Tanzania and the African
Water Association in Ivory Coast, in collaboration with additional implementing
and supporting partners.
The newly EU-funded project will contribute to improving water governance and
management of water resources and to the
sustainable development and maintenance
of water infrastructure. The proposal responds to this objective by addressing the
themes of governance and management,
revenue collection and pro-poor services
provision. Results to be obtained will improve governance through increased participation, transparency and accountability,
responsiveness, equity and inclusiveness.
Improvements in management will focus
on effectiveness and efficiency of utility
operations. The sustainable development
and maintenance of water and sanitation
infrastructure will be further assisted by a
substantial enhancement of the operator’s
revenue base. The project will pay specific
attention to increased and sustainable
access to water and sanitation services by
the poor.
m.blokland@unesco-ihe.org
The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International signed
an agreement with UNESCO-IHE to forge a strategic
partnership in the area of water and sanitation. The
Rotary Foundation will provide grants to Rotary clubs
and districts to select and sponsor eight students
each year for scholarships to three of the four MSc
programmes. Eligible programmes include Municipal
Water and Infrastructure; Water Management; and
Water Science and Engineering. The first group of
scholars will enter UNESCO-IHE in October 2012.
The application materials are expected to be available
in February 2012.
“This strategic partnership with UNESCO-IHE
enables Rotary to work with a globally-recognized
leader in the training
of water professionals
at a time when such
experts are desperately
needed in many parts
of the world,” said
Rotary Foundation
Chair William B. Boyd.
“We are delighted to
Rotary
have this new cooperation with Rotary. The
task ahead is no less than training the next generation of water leaders to be equipped to deal with
the enormous water challenges ahead in the coming
decades,” said Prof. Andras Szollosi-Nagy, UNESCOIHE’s Rector.
The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, under
its new Future Vision plan, seeks to forge strategic
partnerships with established organizations with
expertise in Rotary’s six areas of focus, one of which is
water and sanitation. The other focus areas are peace
and conflict prevention/resolution; disease prevention and treatment; maternal and child health; basic
education and literacy; and economic and community
development. UNESCO-IHE scholarship grants are
available only to clubs in the 100 Rotary districts piloting Future Vision until the plan is fully implemented
July 1, 2013.
BANGKOK | NOVEMBER
UNEsCO-IHE continues to
support Thailand in mitigating the flood crisis
The recent flooding that occurred last October and November in
Thailand was estimated to be one of the worst floods in decades.
Thus, the Thai government together with the UNESCO Bangkok office organized a foreign expert mission to assess flood impacts in the
Ayutthaya/Bangkok region. Dr Zoran Vojinovic from UNESCO-IHE
was invited to join the group of foreign experts for a post-flood facts
finding mission at the end of November. Ayutthaya city, the former
capital of the Kingdom of Siam, Thailand, was one of the many provinces devastated by this event. Concerns were raised that the floods
could have affected the monumental structures which may no longer
be strong enough to carry the weight of the pagoda that is centuries
old. Ayutthaya is located in the valley of the Chao Phraya River and
it is uniquely characterized by the prang (reliquary towers) and
gigantic monasteries. In 1991, its art and buildings were recognized
internationally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Dr Vojinovic presented his findings to the group and explained that
such flood management issues (together with other water-related
management issues) in the Ayutthaya/Bangkok region must be
approached from a holistic (or integrated) perspective and that the
right mix of structural and non-structural measures must be sought
at both regional and local scales.
He said the flow capacity of the waterways in Ayutthaya was
estimated to be in the order of 1,500 cubic meters per second. The
calculated inflow into the Ayutthaya region during the October flood
event was found to be at least two times larger than the flow capacity
of the surrounding waterways. This situation caused the extensive
flooding and unprecedented impacts throughout the region. “This
flood event illustrates some of the fundamental issues of flood risk
and vulnerability in the Ayutthaya region and represents an immense
challenge not only to planners, engineers and scientists but to the
nation as a whole,” he added.
Read the full article on www.unesco-ihe.org/news
www.rotary.org/mediacenter
z.vojinovic@unesco-ihe.org
VIETNAM | SEPTEMBER
Capacity Building Centre of
Water Management and Climate Change
On 28 September, the President of the Vietnam National University, Prof. Dr. Phan Thanh Binh, visited the Institute to
discuss possibilities for collaboration and had a brief meeting with the Vietnamese MSc participants and a PhD fellow and
alumna. Prof. Phan then attended a high-level trading dinner, attended by the Vietnamese Prime Minister and relevant
ministers (Agriculture, MARD), to receive the NUFFIC grant for the NICHE project Institutional capacity building for
the Centre of Water Management and Climate Change (CWMCC). Wageningen University is leading this project with
UNESCO-IHE and Deltares as consortium partners. Read more about the NICHE project:
www.nuffic.nl/nederlandse-organisaties/services/capacity-building/niche/projects/vietnam/niche-vnm-104/
w.douven@unesco-ihe.org
3
“The needs of
“xxxx
the students
should always
come first”
4
BOARD MEMBER INTERVIEW
Chris Kalden
leaves the institute
after 15 years
He trained to become a vet, but his passion for
nature and the environment and his people skills
launched him on a career in management from
which he’s never looked back. After 15 years of
serving the institute in a governance capacity,
Chris Kalden retired from the board of IHE Delft
Foundation and the UNESCO-IHE Governing
Board last August. He looks back on an eventful
but also very fruitful period for the Institute
which he says has greatly strengthened its
capacity to pursue its mission.
hat prompted you to resign from the Foundation and
Governing Boards?
“It’s not healthy for an organization if executives hang
on to their posts too long. I had wanted to retire sooner,
precisely for that reason, but Henk Vonhoff – our chair
at that time – urged me to stay on to provide a measure
of continuity amidst various other changes that were
happening. I did resign as chairman of the UNESCO-IHE
Governing Board, however, when I left the Ministry of
Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in 2007 to become
general manager of the State Forestry Service. Since I’d
become involved with the IHE through the Ministry
of Agriculture, I felt that leaving the Ministry meant I
should take a step back at UNESCO-IHE.”
How would you characterize your time on the governing
boards of IHE Delft Foundation and UNESCO-IHE?
He became involved with the IHE by ‘institutional
accident’ but stayed on much longer out of passion for
what the institute stands for, Kalden (63) told us when
we met him in his office at the Dutch State Forestry
Service, which he has headed since 2007. “I have spent
much of my career in the outdoors, so to speak – first
at a regional environmental organization, later as a civil
servant in various roles focused on nature management
and agriculture. In 1996, I was appointed director of the
Government Service for Land and Water Management.
The post came with a ‘quality monitoring seat’ on the
board of the IHE Foundation. That’s how I became
involved with the Institute, and it’s a responsibility
that I took on with great pleasure. Water is such an
interesting and important theme, after all, as it is so
crucial to people’s lives and economic development.
I’ve always been acutely aware of that. I grew up on the
banks of a river in the east of the Rhine delta, an area
which, over 700 years ago, more or less spawned the
concept of Holland’s regional water boards. Also, water
management is a key element in agriculture and nature
management, my core areas of interest throughout my
career. So, while I joined the board of the IHE Foundation
more or less by accident, the IHE’s work was and is an
area of great interest to me.”
“Never a dull moment. It’s been a very dynamic
environment to be operating in, what with the perennial
financial pressure faced by the organization, the global
development dimension, the process leading up to
the transition to UNESCO and the various shifts in
Dutch policy towards the IHE. I’ve always greatly
enjoyed coming to Delft and experiencing this mix of
project-based work at a Dutch institute which is part of
UNESCO.”
You were closely involved from the beginning in the process
that resulted in IHE Delft formally becoming an UNESCO
Category I Institute in 2003. How do you look back on
that period, also given the controversy surrounding the
transition at the time?
“I wouldn’t call it a controversy. At the time, we were
asking the Dutch government and UNESCO to agree to
a legal set-up for the IHE that was unfamiliar to both of
them. Such things take time. You see, back then, we were
one of six independent institutes in the Netherlands
focused on professional training for foreign students, the
others focusing on themes such as housing, or ICT. In
1999, the Dutch Ministry of Education, one of our key
funders along with the Dutch Ministry of Development
Assistance, decided that all these institutes should merge
with universities. We feared that doing so would put
our mission and focus on mid-career professionals at
risk. We knew UNESCO because we participated in its
International Hydrological Programme, and decided
5
it was the ideal platform for us. However, our funding
meant that we needed to put a hybrid legal framework
in place – part Dutch, part UN. It took four years to get
everyone to agree to that.”
Were you personally involved in the negotiations?
“I remember going to UNESCO headquarters in Paris
several times to explain our position, but Wim Van
Vierssen, the rector at the time, did most of the legwork.
I can safely say that 80% the transition to UNESCO
was his doing – and he deserves a statue for what he
achieved.”
“ The thinking behind the transition was, and remains,
rock-solid. It greatly strengthened our international
image: what had been a Dutch institute with an
international reputation became an international
institute with strong ties with the Dutch water sector.
But the transition did not immediately open up fresh
sources of much-needed funds for us. In retrospect, it was
probably rather naive on our part to assume that it would.
Again, these things take time. We had to strengthen our
fundraising skills and build relationships with potential
donors. I suspect that if you asked the rector (András
Szöllösi-Nagy, ed.), he’d tell you that the transition is
now beginning to have an effect on funding, too.
© Staatsbosbeheer
Has the transition to UNESCO lived up to your
expectations?
“I feel it is very important that the Institute
should remain demand-driven”
Who, in your view, are the core clients that UNESCO-IHE
should focus on?
What advice would you like to give to the Institute for the
coming decade?
“I feel it is very important that the Institute should
remain ‘demand-driven’. That is to say, the needs of
the students should always come first. They need to
acquire new skills and know-how that they can readily
apply back home, and are enthusiastic about. That will
ultimately determine the success of UNESCO-IHE.
Governments or organizations such as the African
Development Bank will be clients in the sense that they
come up with proposals and requests. But it is crucial to
build a solid understanding of the underlying reality on
the ground.”
“I don’t feel I’m in a position to make suggestions, also
because my focus most recently has been on governance
rather than content issues, particularly since the death
of our former chairman, Henk Vonhoff (in July 2010,
ed.). But I would like to urge the Institute to remain very
conscious of the fact that its raison d’être is the impact
it has in the field; the interests of the Institute itself
should never feature too prominently in considerations.
UNESCO-IHE is special because it needs to produce
credible science with an above-average emphasis, for an
academic institution, on knowledge that can be applied
in the field. There’s always a risk of becoming detached
from the field. But I am confident that UNESCO-IHE’s
dependence on project-related funding will act as a
positive compulsion in this respect: financiers will want
to see that their projects deliver value for money.”
How do you feel about the Global Campus as an attempt to
significantly increase the impact of the institute?
“ While it is important for students to spend at least some
time physically together, as they do while in Delft, the
strategy for much of my time on the board has always
been to optimize the operation in Delft and expand
internationally through satellite organizations, joint
programmes on the spot and distance learning. I feel
UNESCO-IHE is on the right track, strategically.”
6
How would you characterize UNESCO-IHE’s development
during your 15 years on the board?
“I’ve worked with four rectors during my time on the
board, each representing a distinct phase in the Institute’s
COLUMN
Can research
promote
development
cooperation in
river basins?
As world population continues to soar and climate-related natural
disasters become more frequent, countries around the globe are facing
critical challenges to satisfy escalating demands for food and energy,
and to maintain sustainable environments. Many river basins in the
world are already ‘closed, as all the water supplies are consumed before
the rivers reach the oceans. Most river basins, transboundary and
otherwise, are managed unilaterally, missing major opportunities for
regional cooperation and losing immense potential benefits arising from
alliances and development cooperation.
development. Wil Seegeren, who was rector
when I joined the board, was a builder and
driver of tremendous growth – up to the
point where the Institute was bursting at the
seams. His successor, Wim van Vierssen,
consolidated that growth, strengthening
planning and control while also conceiving
and ‘selling’ the concept for UNESCO-IHE.
Richard Meganck, the first rector to come
in via UNESCO, made the transition stick
and gave it wider prominence. Now, under
András, UNESCO-IHE will be reaping the
benefits. All in all, quality has improved, the
approach has become more demand-driven,
and there has been a decisive push to build
broader alliances and programmes as a player
in a global network.”
PERSONALIA
Chris Kalden was born in 1948 in Culemborg, the
Netherlands. After graduating in veterinary medicine
from Utrecht University, he joined a regional NGO
umbrella organization and later became its general
manager. In 1982, he joined the Dutch civil service
for a career spanning 25 years, first in land and nature
management, subsequently in HRM and finance, and
ultimately as Secretary-General of the Ministry of
Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. In 2007, he was
appointed general manager of the Dutch State Forestry
Service, which manages 250,000 hectares of nature
reserves across the Netherlands. Chris Kalden is married
and has two children. He lives in Gouda, a small town in
the southwest of the Netherlands.
Can research promote development cooperation in river basins? This
question is fundamental to the paradigm shift from tension and missed
opportunities to cooperation and increased benefits. Scientific research
in river basins would uncover opportunities to increase benefits
from a water resources system that may otherwise remain unseen by
individual riparians and local water sector organizations. With over
50 years experience in capacity building in an international context,
UNESCO-IHE is uniquely placed to play a fundamental role on water
management research on large river basins.
“I’m an IHE alumni who graduated in 1967,” the late Mr. Meki Bekhet
proclaimed proudly. Mr. Bekhet was a senior Sudanese official who
attended the meeting of the Blue Nile Hydrosolidarity research project
organized by UNESCO-IHE in Khartoum in February 2011. The pride
he expressed at being a member of the big IHE family and participating
in the research team together with fellow researchers from Ethiopia
and the Netherlands is reflected among many alumni. The healthy
research environment based on mutual trust that the Institute provides
is a pre-requisite for plausible research products, with better chances
for buy-in. The international environment of UNESCO-IHE is a fertile
environment for building trust among riparian participants, not only
because they study or work together, but more importantly because
they produce credible knowledge on transboundary water issues
generated through joint research work. It is impossible to produce such
knowledge otherwise, given the difficulty of data
sharing and mistrust among riparian researchers.
The same holds true for other river basins,
including the Nile, the Mekong, the Indus, and
many others.
UNESCO-IHE has over 150 MSc students, over
100 PhD researchers from all over the world,
and credible scientific staff specialized in waterrelated fields. Working in conjunction with local
partners and relying on this large pool of dedicated
water experts, the Institute has a great potential
to carry out scientific research that will promote
development cooperation in large river basins,
leading to enormous cooperation benefits. This
aim can best be achieved through effective project
design, with equal opportunities for all, and with
consistent engagement with local stakeholders.
Yasir Mohamed
Associate Professor of Water Resources
Management
7
7
iN FoCUS
Reinventing sanitation
through education
and research
Mod
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mana rn waste
w
gem
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ools
15 MSc
r
fo
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Regular intake of UNESCO-IHE
“To address the needs of the 2.6 billion people
who don’t have access to safe sanitation, we
not only must reinvent the toilet, we also must
find safe, affordable and sustainable ways to
capture, treat, and recycle human waste,” said
Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the Global
Development Programme at the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation. “Most importantly, we must
In a keynote address at the 2011 AfricaSan PRoJECT GRANT
Conference in Kigali, Sylvia Mathews
The total project budget is US$11.1
Burwell, president of the foundation’s
million and is partially output-based,
Global Development Program, called on
providing incentives to excel and
donors, governments, the private sector,
outperform project expectations. The
Mod
ernbe
ion
and NGOs to address the urgent challenge,
itatproject
w jointly executed by
n
mawill
a
s
nage astewa
mart oaches
t
men(principal
S
which affects nearly 40 percent of the appr
UNESCO-IHE
grantee) and its
t too er
ls
world’s population.
eight partners from developing countries
in sub‐Saharan Africa, South‐East Asia
and South America: the Asian Institute
“No innovation in the past 200 years has
done more to save lives and improve health of Technology in Thailand, the Institut
15 MSc
Teknologi Bandung in Indonesia, the
than the sanitation revolution triggered
International Institute of Water and
by invention of the toilet,” Burwell said in
Environmental Engineering (2iE) in
her speech at AfricaSan, the third African
1 Post-doc
Faso, the Kwame Nkrumah
Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene, or- Burkina
University of Science and Technology in
ganized by the African Ministers’ Council
Ghana,
Makerere
Institute of
on Water. “But it only reached
one-third15
of 5 Post17 University
75 MSc
45 MSc
4 PostPhD doc
PhD
doc
Environmental
and Natural Resources in
the world.”
Uganda, the University of Cape Town in
South Africa, the Federal University of
“What we need are new approaches and
3 PhD
Minas Gerais in Brazil and the Universidad
new ideas developed and implemented by
20 MSc
100
Cert
del Valle in Colombia.
“They have been
a new generation of sanitation profession“online”
“online”
working hand in hand with the Gates
als,” Prof. Brdjanovic said. The foundation
15 Dipl
Foundation
in shaping the project to
announced $42 million in new sanita- 500 Cert
“online”
address
the needs of the 2.6 billion people
tion grants to spur innovations in human “online”
worldwide who do not have access to
excerta capture and storage, as well as its
y explained Prof.
improved sanitation,”
processing into reusable energy, fertilizers
O&M
utilit
troub
a
tion
anita gement
lesho nd András SSzöllösi-Nagy,
Rector at UNESCOand fresh water. In addition, the foundaa
oting
man
IHE. “I would like to commend the Gates
tion will support work with local commuUNincrease
Foundation for supporting
innovative
nities to end open defecation and
ps
ESC
rshi
O-IHE approachesarthat
access to affordable, long-term sanitation
& global p tne lead to sustainable local
solutions.”
solutions that people will want to use.
8
“This is probably the largest research and postgraduate education project ever conducted on
5 Post- 4 Postsanitation for the urban poor,” elaborated
Prof.
doc
doc
Damir Brdjanovic, Project Director. “This exciting
project will increase the number of adequately
trained sanitation professionals in developing countries, provide research opportunities,
Co-founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
education
and training for the new generation
at partner institutions and UNESCO-IHE
of ‘all-round’
sanitary engineers, and make
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
postgraduate
education
at partner
institutionsin sanitary engineering
more accessible
to by
individuals
from developing
(Co)financed
the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation
at UNESCO-IHE
countries.”
N
o
te vel
ch sa
no ni
lo tat
gi io
es n
-cost
Low tion
a
sanit
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
launched
3 PhD
a strategy in June to help bring safe and reliable
20 MSc
100 Cert
sanitation services to“online”
millions of poor people
in
“online”
the developing world. One 500
of the
Cert foundation’s
15 Dipl
“online”
new investments included a“online”
US$8 million
grant
awarded to UNESCO-IHE. The grant will bey
O&
utilit
troub M and
ation
t
used for postgraduate sanitation
education
lesho
Sanit agemenand
oting
man
research with a focus on solutions for the urban
UN
ps
ESC and South-EastshAsia.
poor in sub-Saharan Africa
r i
O-IHE
& global partne
This 5-year capacity-building and research
project (2011-2016) was developed by Damir
Brdjanovic, Professor of Sanitary Engineering at
UNESCO-IHE, and his team.
1 Post-doc
tion
DSS
17 PhD
Sanit
a
15 PhD
an D
d rai
se na
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Sanit
75 MSc
utility
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Sanit agemen
man
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& global partne
s
ship
Co-founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
at partner institutions and UNESCO-IHE
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
at partner institutions
(Co)financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
at UNESCO-IHE
Regular intake of UNESCO-IHE
© UN Photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh. One of the five major research themes within the new project is to develop smart sanitation solutions for slums and informal settlements.
work closely with local communities to
develop lasting sanitation solutions that
will improve their lives.”
The project has five major research
themes: smart sanitation for slums and
informal settlements; emergency sanitation following natural and anthropological
disasters; decentralized sanitation aimed
at resource recovery; low‐cost wastewater
collection and treatment; and fecal sludge
management.
Global Relevance
Focusing on affordable solutions that cost
no more than 5 cents per person per day
and are easy to install, use, and maintain,
the foundation and its partners are developing new tools and technologies that
address every aspect of sanitation—from
waterless, hygienic toilets without sewer
connections, to pit emptying, to waste
processing and recycling, often involving
cutting-edge technology that could turn
human waste into fuel to power local communities, fertilizer to improve crops, or
even safe drinking water. The foundation’s
strategy involves gathering evidence to determine what people want and measuring
what really works, as well as education and
awareness-raising to stimulate demand for
improved sanitation, and advocacy for gov-
ernments and public and private partners
to prioritize sanitation policies.
“Across Africa, improved sanitation is
an essential human need that we must
take action to address,” said Mamadou
Dia, President of the African Water
Association. “We welcome efforts to focus
new attention, ideas and resources on this
important issue.” Sanitation brings substantial economic benefits. According to
the World Health Organization, improved
sanitation can produce up to $9 for every
$1 invested by increasing productivity,
reducing health care costs, and preventing illness, disability, and early death.
People with access to clean and convenient
sanitation services also experience greater
dignity, privacy, and security. “Disease
caused by unsafe sanitation accounts for
roughly half of all hospitalizations in the
developing world,” said Prince WillemAlexander of the Netherlands, chair of
the United Nations Secretary-General’s
Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation.
“This statistic is unacceptable, as is the
fact that many decision makers remain
reluctant to talk about sanitation, further
stigmatizing the topic, and perpetuating
a crisis whose solutions are within our
reach.” Water, Sanitation & Hygiene is part
of the foundation’s Global Development
Program, which addresses issues such as
“... the largest research
and postgraduate
education project ever
conducted on sanitation
for the urban poor.”
agricultural development and financial
services—problems that affect the world’s
poorest people but do not receive adequate attention. With these new grants,
the foundation’s commitment to Water,
Sanitation & Hygiene efforts total more
than $265 million; the new strategy represents an increased focus on sanitation.
Prof. Brdjanovic concluded: “There is no
doubt that the project ‘Stimulating local
innovation on sanitation for the urban
poor in sub-Saharan Africa and SouthEast Asia’ will substantially contribute to a
global effort in building the much needed
capacities in the sanitation sector. Among
other outputs, the project will deliver 5
post-doctoral fellows, 20 PhD researchers, 60 Master’s laureates, and in excess of
500 trained professionals from developing
countries, an estimated stunning total of
130 man-years of research.”
d.brdjanovic@unesco-ihe.org
9
EDUCATION NEWS
University
Teaching
Qualification
High quality education is seen as one of the most
important pillars of UNESCO-IHE. This is true
for the content of the programmes, but also
for the way knowledge is transferred. For the
latter, UNESCO-IHE staff are currently offered
a University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) programme focused on active learning and aligned
teaching, within the framework of staff development. The UTQ is a programme aimed at improving the didactical knowledge and skills of the
teaching staff. This course is focused on activating
students in classrooms and to make them more
responsible for their own learning. Lecturers are
trained to organize their courses in an aligned
way, meaning that they know how to formulate
learning objectives, can choose the most relevant
didactial approaches to achieve those objectives
and to test these in an appropriate examination.
All UNESCO-IHE academic staff members
are obliged to follow this programme
within the coming years. After successful
completion of the programme, lecturers
will be awarded a diploma which allows
them to teach at any university in The
Netherlands. At this moment 13 staff
members have already obtained their
diploma. Another 30 are currently undergoing the training, and 10 will start with
the programme within the next couple of
months.
Assela Pathirana, Senior Lecturer in Urban
Drainage and Sewerage, who successfully undertook the course said: “When it
comes to the fundamentals of teaching and
learning, I am quite traditional. Following
this course was a real eye-opener. For
example when students learn, their prime
focus is getting all the questions right on
the exam. But what is the best way for
a lecturer to align a course so that the
students will achieve their learning objectives? It may not be rocket science, but still
putting these lessons into practice requires
serious attention. I have already changed
some of my evaluation methods.”
In view of quality assurance of joint educational activities it was found important that
also staff of partnering institutes share a
common view on education and that a similar programme should be offered to the
teaching staff of these partner institutes.
A start has been made with Sriwijaija
University and CKNet, both in Indonesia.
Both UNESCO-IHE and Sriwijaija
University are responsible for the implementation of a joint Master specialisation
in Integrated Lowland Development and
Management Planning (DD-ILDM).
Students follow part of the programme
in Delft and partly in Indonesia. Courses
are taught by both UNESCO-IHE staff
and Sriwijaija University staff. Several
years ago academic staff of CKNet already
received a basic didactic training. This
UTQ course continued on what they have
already learned. This programme was
organised by Erick de Jong, Educational
Advisor, in collaboration with Corrie de
Haan, the external educational advisor and
coach for the UTQ programme. The programme was highly appreciated and seen
as very useful by the participants.
e.dejong@unesco-ihe.org
Revitalisation of Port Development Courses
Port Engineering has always been an integral part of the training provided by (UNESCO-)IHE. Lectures on design of quay walls and breakwaters were given since the start of the Institute in 1955. This year was
the 47th edition of the Port Seminar, which is dealing with economic
and planning aspects of ports in addition to recent developments in
the technical field. The demand for well trained port engineers is large
throughout the world, with sea going vessels taking an ever increasing
part of the transport of goods. Port development is an essential factor in
the economic development of all countries bordering the sea.
10
© Photo AMREF
h.ligteringen@unesco-ihe.org
Last year the Coastal Engineering and Port Development team embarked on a revitalisation plan for Port Development within the core.
This comprises two important elements: a promotion campaign among
alumni and other contacts who are active in the port sector, and the
initiation of research projects in a number of focus areas, including:
Adaptive port planning, Traffic simulation in ports, Wave penetration in
the ports, etc. To do this the core was strengthened with the (part-time)
employment of Professor Han Ligteringen and Dr. Poonam Taneja by
which also the cooperation with the Ports & Waterways group at TU
Delft and port of Rotterdam was further improved. In the new academic
year (2011-2012) six students will do their thesis within one of the
aforementioned research lines, giving strong momentum to the further
development of the port development courses.
capacity
development
SPECIAL
Capacity development has
been and will continue to
be one of the key activities
at UNESCO-IHE, and is
an intrinsic part of the
Institute’s strategy for
the coming decade. The
Institute plans to work in
international alliances to
strengthen knowledge and
capacity-building institutes
in the global South,
strengthening water sector
organizations to improve
their performance and
contributing to the global
agenda on water sector
capacity development.
11
SPECIAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
future
strategy
for capacity
development
Capacity development activities at the Institute initially
emphasized the education and training of individuals.
By the end of the 1980s, the Institute became increasingly involved in institutionally strengthening the
programmes of universities, research institutes, government ministries and other water sector organizations.
With the introduction of the MSc and PhD programmes,
research became increasingly important as an instrument
in capacity development. By the end of the 1990s, the
knowledge networking concept had been introduced and
successfully implemented in Africa, for instance in WaterNet and NBCBN/NileNet, and on other continents,
e.g. CKnet-INA in Indonesia, as well as the Asia-Pacific
Water Forum Network. Consequently, UNESCO-IHE’s
role changed from that of a purely implementing entity
to a facilitator, moderator and knowledge broker.
The strategy for capacity development emphasizes new
learning alliances in the context of the global campus.
The global network of UNESCO-IHE Institutes is
envisioned as an international, academically acclaimed
tertiary water education network, firmly linked to the
water sector worldwide and within the UN system, and
appreciated for partnering with Southern institutions in
all of its capacity development activities. This global campus will be known for its demand-responsiveness, ability
to swiftly mobilize resources, and creativity in addressing complex problems. As a whole, the global campus
will devise comprehensive interdisciplinary solutions in
response to dynamic societal demand.
Once the global campus has been realized, the
UNESCO-IHE Institutes will have mainstreamed
capacity development in all their projects and adopted
a systematic approach towards knowledge sharing and
learning. The network of institutes will not only be a
learning organization itself, but will also support partners
in adopting this approach. The network will be selective
in the projects it engages in, based on criteria such as
the societal impact of the project, the innovative and/or
12
interdisciplinary character of the intervention,
the exposure to relevant local and regional practices,
and the opportunity to learn and further upgrade and
expand its services.
The aim is for UNESCO-IHE to strengthen the water
sector at large through capacity development on three essential levels: individual, organizational and institutional.
To accommodate the individual level, UNESCO-IHE
will strengthen knowledge institutions in developing
countries and assist them in developing and implementing water education and research programmes. These
knowledge institutions will be equipped to generate new
knowledge which is needed to better understand, interpret and deal with (local) water-related problems and
challenges. Through this mechanism, UNESCO-IHE ensures that high-quality water programmes become more
easily accessible and affordable for many individuals.
Water sector organizations are the key entities for
providing adequate water services and proper water
management. Capacity development as envisaged by
UNESCO-IHE entails direct support to sector organizations and the development of an enabling environment
in which people and organizations can prosper. As the
goal is to create sustainable organizations, the assistance
will focus on developing the ability of these organizations to continuously renew their own knowledge base.
The activities of the Institute in this respect will include
organizing sector-wide demand assessment studies,
developing demand-responsive and state-of-the-art
short courses for senior sector staff, and promoting and
supporting national and regional knowledge networks.
In addition to implementing capacity development
activities, the Institute also works to investigate and
develop capacity development approaches and policies
with the aim of innovating its own application strategies,
as well as sharing practices and novel approaches with
stakeholders and partners worldwide.
SPECIAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT | INTERVIEW
staff shortages looming
in the water sector
by raymond gijssen
Countries around the world are facing growing shortfalls in water-related expertise as
experienced professionals are retiring from
the sector in great numbers, and finding and
developing replacements is proving a struggle.
Guy Alaerts, (part-time) Professor of Capacity
Development at UNESCO-IHE, gave us plenty
of food for thought when we talked to him during a recent short stay at the institute. “ We are
entering a decade of staff shortages in the water
sector,” he said, telling us of the research team’s
study of professional capacity levels around
the world. In the 1970s, we saw a major surge
in the numbers of specialists brought into the
sector, also in developing countries,” Alaerts
says. “ This first cohort of professionals is now
retiring so fast that it is virtually impossible to
recruit replacements in sufficient numbers and
get them up to speed quickly enough.” And
“ Those countries have indeed succeeded to
double the output of graduates since then, but
the economic and demographic growth, and
climate insecurity have escalated the demand
three- or fourfold.”
New recruits ideally are assigned to an experienced mentor who can help them learn and
grow on the job, he explained. “But if the old
guard leaves too rapidly, a lot of tacit knowledge
is lost.”
It could be a very dangerous trend for poorer
countries in particular, says Alaerts, who was
Vice Rector of UNESCO-IHE from 1988 until
1996, when he joined the World Bank in
Washington, DC. He is currently one of the
World Bank’s Water Sector Leaders, supervising the preparation and implementation of the
water projects funded by the Bank.
New departures in research
At UNESCO-IHE, Alaerts guides the Institute’s research programme in the broad field
of Knowledge & Capacity Development
(KCD) that comprises most other factors that
determine a water project’s success besides
engineering: people’s knowledge and skills,
how government bodies and other organizations are structured and operate, legislative and
regulatory frameworks, and arrangements and
incentives promoting sustainable outcomes.
By tallying the number of specialists that countries employ in their water sectors (not just
engineers but also accountants, for example),
the research team wants to find out if countries
g.alaerts@unesco-ihe.org
NATIONALITY
Belgian
EDUCATION
Masters and Doctorate in
Applied Sciences, Catholic
University Leuven, Belgium
MBA, Catholic University Leuven,
Belgium
CAREER
Was appointed Professor of Sanitary Engineering at IHE in
1986 and Department Head and Deputy Rector in 1988.
Joined the World Bank in 1996, but remains associated with the
UNESCO-IHE’s knowledge and capacity development Core.
were developing the people-capacity they need
to meet their Millennium Development Goals
for water supply and sanitation. The findings
were diverse, he says: “Some Latin American
countries by now have sufficient specialists
employed in some areas of expertise but are still
short in others, notably advanced wastewater
treatment and integrated water management.
Twenty years ago, Indonesia had enough
experts for irrigation but covered only 10% of
the need for drinking water supply and sanitation, but at this moment it has enough staff in
drinking water supply but is lagging behind in
irrigation. Universities are pre-occupied with
their own agendas and too slow in responding
to such dynamics.”
Shortages caused by the retirement exodus of
experts are also hurting rich countries, he said,
noting that in the Netherlands, lavish early
retirement schemes had made the problem
worse. The OECD, too, notes a decline of sectoral expertise in public administration across
most countries, spurred by higher efficiencies but also tightening budgets. “Maybe rich
countries will be able to cope with this brain
drain, but for developing countries the trend
is outright dangerous in the face of growing
pressures on water and climate change,” Alaerts
says.
He hopes this work will help cushion the
effects, in part by raising awareness. “ The EU
already cannot spend billions earmarked for infrastructure investment because some member
states don’t have enough qualified people for
the feasibility and environmental assessment
studies and so on that you need for project proposals,” Alaerts says. The team also researches
how people around the world can tap into the
already available “global knowledge pool”, how
knowledge can help strengthen governance at
national and local-government levels, and how
water utilities from the North can help improve
performance of utilities in the South through
partnerships.
Research efforts such as these are a relatively
new departure for UNESCO-IHE in capacity
development. “For a long time, we focused on
collecting and disseminating lessons learned
from the field,” Alaerts says. “Now there’s a
concerted research program with currently
four capacity development specialists and three
PhD students. But we work closely with other
teams, like the Management & Institutions
group. It’s all part of a joint effort to ensure that
investments and policies in countries produce
more sustainable outcomes, for example by
ensuring stronger buy-in of the local stakeholders and making the right trade-offs.”
But capacity development doesn’t stop at the
door of the utility or ministry. Also civil society, and local communities must have an understanding of how their decisions affect the water
system, and how they need to contribute—also
through their taxes—to sustainable solutions.
Focus on policy development
Promoting and supporting policy development
will be a key strategic focus in the years ahead,
Alaerts says. We are studying how international
knowledge networks can be made more effective, such as Unesco-IHE’s Nile Basin Capacity
Building Network, WATERNET, in southern
Africa, and the new network with the Asian
Development Bank in Asia. The institute also
will intensify collaboration with national policymakers. But single organisations can also be
a target group for new style cooperation. “If we
work with a university in an African country,
say, we should not just focus on improving
its laboratory, but also help them strengthen
their quality management, public image and
fundraising skills. Or analyse how human
resources policies in a ministry can be enhanced
to give incentives for staff learning. That is an
in-depth investment. The conventional style of
capacity development is based on the premise
that “we” transfer “our” knowledge to “them”,
through training. But the new-style knowledge
and capacity development appreciates the value
of the local problem itself too, and builds on the
local knowledge already available—leading to a
more balanced partnership. This is not one of
the traditional strengths of Unesco-IHE and it
needs to work on it.”
13
SPECiAL CAPACiTY DEVELoPMENT | PRoJECTS
mapping gloBal efforts i
This overview presents a selection of UNESCO-IHE’s more than 140 capacity
development projects around the world. The Institute works with international partners
to advance the competencies of knowledge and capacity-building institutes in the Global
South, to strengthen water sector organizations to improve their performance and to
contribute to the global agenda on water sector capacity development. UNESCO-IHE
utilizes a range of different capacity development activities – often in combination – to
engage its beneficiaries in learning and the generation of knowledge and innovation.
iNNoVATiVE PRACTiCES iN URBAN
wATER CYCLE MANAGEMENT
wATER PRoGRAMS iN hiGhER
EDUCATioN
Contribute to the adaptation and mitigation
of climate change effects on water scarcity
in Cuba by introducing innovative practices
and enhancing knowledge, education and
research capacities in innovative urban water
cycle practices in the Cuban water sector.
Enhance the academic capacity to perform
water programs at higher education institutes
by supporting strategy development for water
education and research, strengthen curricula
as well as setting up research units that focus
on water supply and sanitation, river and
coastal engineering and hydrology and water
resources.
PiLoTiNG CoLoMBiA’S NEw iwRM PoLiCY
Contribute to the development of a framework and
specific tools through which Colombia’s new basin
management plans can be implemented. Facilitate the
design and implementation of a Learning Alliance to
effectively capture and communicate lessons learned
from the programme. Support the implementation of
awareness raising and the production of educational
materials for primary schools.
ENhANCiNG iNSTiTUTioNAL
CAPACiTY iN wATER AND wASTE
wATER TREATMENT
Enhance the capacity of the Department of
Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences at
Tshwane University of Technology to design,
deliver and disseminate education and training
programmes of high relevance for the water and
sanitation sector.
CAPACiTY DEVELoPMENT ACTiViTiES
EDUCATioN & TRAiNiNG
Fostering the competences of beneficiaries
through local education and training activities,
using standard or tailored course material,
includes class-room teaching, workshops,
e-learning, distance education as well as
training and/or utilizing local trainers and
lecturers. Study tours pay visits to learn from
14 specific organizations or at project locations.
RESEARCh
ADViSoRY SERViCES
Research activities involve MSc & PhD
students, postdocs, researchers and experts
from local knowledge and capacitybuilding institutes in projects to participate
in the generation of new knowledge,
thereby improving local capacity.
Advisory services are aimed at creating
an enabling environment for local
capacity development by providing
specific guidance or advice, including
needs assessments, curriculum
development and the compilation of a
strategy, policy or research agenda.
in capacity development
NiLE BASiN CAPACiTY BUiLDiNG
NETwoRK FoR RiVER ENGiNEERiNG
hiGhER EDUCATioN CAPACiTY
iN iNTEGRATED wATER RESoURCES
MANAGEMENT
Strengthen water professionals’ capacity and
collaboration in a region characterized by political tension, poverty and growing water scarcity
through an inclusive knowledge network approach that has nodes at knowledge institutes in
all Nile riparian countries.
Enhance capacity development at Chittagong
University of Engineering and Technology by
reinforcing its study, training, research and service/consultancy offer, focusing on integrated
water resource management and disseminating
knowledge, technology and expertise from
innovators to practitioners, from classroom
educators to field users.
ANTiCiPATiNG AND RESoLViNG
FLooD iSSUES, DiFFERENCES
AND DiSPUTES
PERFoRMANCE iMPRoVEMENT
oF wATER UTiLiTiES
Improve the organizational performance,
financial sustainability and urban pro-poor
focus of three utilities in medium & small towns
with respect to enhanced staff empowerment,
performance accountability, customer voice
and choice, operational efficiency, revenue
enhancement and improved service provision to
the urban poor.
Training programme tailored to three target
groups (policy and decision makers, mid-level
professionals and academics, and operation/
administration professionals) who need to be
knowledgeable of transboundary dimensions
and implications of basin developments and
flood management.
FoCUS
SCALE
technological competence
individual organization
KNowLEDGE NETwoRKiNG &
PARTNERShiPS
management competence
sector / several organizations
Knowledge networking and partnerships
foster competences by setting up networks,
such as professional associations or
Communities of Practice, whereby relevant
professionals and organizations participate
in a (thematic) network and its activities to
disseminate and generate knowledge.
governance competence
community / civil society
learning / innovation competence
15
SPECIAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT | PROJECTS
Capacity development
and innovation
Aside from the comprehensive education and training MSc and PhD programmes
that participants can follow at UNESCO-IHE in Delft, the Institute is also very active
in a broader range of capacity development activities world-wide. A small selection
is presented in the centerfold of this issue of UPDATE. Currently, there are over 140
projects being carried out by the Institute that either focus specifically on capacity
development or include capacity development components.
Capacity development by UNESCO-IHE consists of a range of
different activities (education & training, research, advisory
services and knowledge networks) that are aimed at distinct
types of competences (technological, managerial, governance and learning/innovative competences). These projects
are implemented with varying scope: focusing on individual
organizations such as a ministry or a university (department),
covering an entire sector or region, or even extending to entire
communities or civil society, e.g. for awareness raising activities. There is not a single method, but a variety of approaches.
Different capacity development activities are typically combined to create effective learning opportunities. The commonality among these is that the approaches are tailored to the
requirements, priorities and preferences of the beneficiaries
and the donors. UNESCO-IHE’s role in this process can be
multi-faceted: as educator, trainer, consultant and facilitator.
From research to the way that UNESCO-IHE carries out capacity development, the following insights emerge:
• Any capacity development activity assumes that some local
capacity already exists. By means of a needs assessment, requirements analysis, benchmarking or local market research
into the demand for certain training and education, this can
be identified and then built upon.
• Capacity development activities are by and large carried out
in collaboration with local partners. Since it can be tempting to become ‘locked-in’ by returning to the same local
experts, it may require a conscious decision to ensure a good
spread.
• Education and training activities using a variety of didactic
methods to enable different forms of learning (e.g. learning-by-doing, e-learning, mutual learning, peer learning,
on-the-job-training) not only contribute to enhancing the
knowledge base - they are also important tools for building up the confidence of participants such that they can use
their enhanced abilities in creative and innovative ways.
• The mere dissemination of textbook knowledge is considered unlikely to be self-sustaining, because it often results
in ‘dead’ curricula. Learning mechanisms to generate new
knowledge locally are deemed essential. Projects that
include research activities involving local researchers and
train capacity to prepare project proposals (how to analyze
a problem, generate a research or project proposal and identify where to submit it) can help to address this problem.
• True bottom-up, rather than institutional top-down, ap16
proaches to knowledge networking are particularly suited
to the process of knowledge production and dissemination.
They connect water professionals by linking them through
their professional interest and in this way result in collaboration among organizations and even countries. At this
scientific level, a more neutral understanding of (e.g. transboundary) issues is often made possible than at a political
level. Whilst information and communication technologies can play a great facilitating role, face-to-face meetings
are considered indispensible for setting up and sustaining
knowledge networks in the long term.
• Getting people to think broader, outside their own discipline, is deemed highly beneficial but difficult it practice. It
has proved easier to link the often separate worlds of public
sector agencies, knowledge institutes and the private sector
by broadening the project scope and providing joint trainings, e.g. for local ministry staff and academics.
• Nation-specific incentive systems and norms can have a
considerable impact on how and what participants learn.
Public institutions can induce or hinder processes of national competence building. A good understanding of the
institutional and political landscape is therefore essential for
being able to provide effective capacity development activities.
• There is frequently insufficient local capacity in the social
sciences, both in terms of quantity and quality. It can prove
difficult to find contractors with social science departments
in the beneficiary countries. This places limits on the attention that can be given to building the ‘enabling environment’ - and on the possibilities for innovative partnerships
- for capacity development.
The key element emerging from this is UNESCO-IHE’s appreciation that a focus on individual actors and organizations
in the water sector is not sufficient. The development process
to which knowledge and learning are central, depends on
individual as well as collective qualifications and competencies.
Along with the acquisition of technological and managerial
competences, institutional and social innovation is required to
create an environment that is stable and enabling to achieve the
water-related ambitions of developing countries and countries in transition. This resonates with the importance placed
by other sectors on dynamic interactive learning within and
between organizations for bringing about success in innovative
capacity development.
u.wehndemontalvo@unesco-ihe.org
SPECiAL CAPACiTY DEVELoPMENT | FiELD REPoRT
HIGHLIGHTS IN
THE CARIBBEAN
on a sultry Caribbean night in Trinidad, after a full day of discussions on the future of
water education in the region, UNESCo-ihE staff members are at Satchmo’s, enjoying the
excellent cocktails and Calypso music. “Could there be a more ideal location for a ‘Mission
Abroad’?”, you may wonder, as the waiter sets another mojito on your table. But how do
the Caribbean people see their islands?
Enjoyable nightlife, white beaches, tropical forests: the Caribbean
may seem like paradise. People here tend to take things as they
come: hurricanes, congested roads, or a sudden dip in income.
Even so, water remains a frequent topic on radio or TV, in meetings with professionals, and in local cafés over a meal of Trinidad
doubles (frybread with curried chickpeas). Clean drinking water
is never in reliable supply, while rainy-season flooding causes
property damage and rising seas may threaten coastal towns and
beach resorts.
The Caribbean islands are ill-prepared to combat their water problems. Water pipes need repairs and whole water supply systems
may have to be re-designed. Sanitation on many of the larger
islands has not been modernized; on many smaller islands, proper
sewers are a luxury enjoyed by the happy few. Flood control
structures in streams are rare and watershed management is only
just starting. There is a serious backlog in coastal defense works,
and environmental issues in the precious aquatic environments
are not yet fully addressed, due in part to a lack of staff capacity in
the Caribbean water sector. Many of the most talented Caribbean
water professionals have left for universities overseas and are now
pursuing careers abroad.
In 2006, the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) of Trinidad
and Tobago and UNESCO-IHE signed a Cooperation Agreement
on staff capacity development in the Caribbean water sector. Dr
Stephen Fletcher and Marilyn Crichlow from the WASA Water
Resources Agency and Jan Nonner from UNESCO-IHE drafted a
project proposal, which also involved the Faculty of Engineering
of the University of the West Indies on Trinidad, the Faculty
of Technology of the University of Guyana, and the College of
Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago.
In 2008, the proposal on Capacity Building for Water Programs
in Higher Education in the Caribbean (CapCar) was presented
to EDULINK, the EU initiative to boost education in developing
countries; it was selected for implementation at the end of 2008.
The three-year project, which ends December 2011, has a total
budget of 500,000 Euros, 85% provided by the EU and 15% by
DUPC (programmatic cooperation between the Dutch government and UNESCO-IHE) and the Caribbean countries. Highlights
in the Caribbean project activities included visits by a multi-disciplinary UNESCO-IHE team to Trinidad and Guyana to discuss
policies, curriculum development, IT and equipment, and short
courses (http://www.unesco-ihe.org/cwc).
The first activity, in which UNESCO-IHE delegates interacted
with regional scientific and water sector staff, was characterized
by a good atmosphere and excellent opportunities to sample
the Caribbean flavour. The second initiative involves staff capacity
training, focusing on hydrology and water resources, river and
coastal engineering, and water and wastewater engineering.
With 6 of the 9 scheduled courses already completed,
UNESCO-IHE lecturers saw Caribbean water sector staff
participate enthusiastically. There was also much appreciation
for the local project coordinators in Trinidad and Guyana, who
did an excellent job of organizing the courses and making the
participants feel at home.
j.nonner@unesco-ihe.org
17
ADVISORY PROJECT
Climate change
adaptation on the
island of São Tomé
In 2010-2011, UNESCO-IHE carried out an advisory project
for the Republic of São Tomé and Principe to identify adaptation
interventions for reducing the vulnerability of the São Tomean
coastal communities to climate change impacts. Funded by the
World Bank’s Global Environmental Facility, the project was carried
out in collaboration with Deltares and a team of local consultants.
From the analyses and interactions with local population, it became
The islands of São Tomé and Principe are located in the Gulf of
clear that the problems faced by the coastal communities might be
Guinea on the African west coast. The former Portuguese colony is
intensified by climate change, but are to a large extent related to the
Africa’s second smallest nation, with a total area of 1,001 km2 and
institutional context of the country. The
a population of about 166,000 inhabitpeople inhabiting the coastal villages are
ants. The interior of the island is covmostly descendants of escaped slaves
ered in tropical forest and large cocoa
who have historically been excluded
and coffee plantations established durfrom economic developments and
ing the colonial occupation. The small
access to natural resources such as the
villages along the coast have historically
fertile inlands. As such, they live on the
suffered from frequent inundation and
narrow coastal strips, sometimes literally
coastal erosion. Flooding and erosion
on the beach, with limited opportunidamage has increased in recent years
ties to improve their livelihood. Over
due to increased storm intensity and
time, government and aid agencies have
significant shifts in the duration and inprovided services such as water pumps,
tensity of the rainy seasons, which have
schools, clinics and roads.
begun to overlap the storm season. The
livelihood of the people living in these
Nevertheless, the locations of these
villages mainly depends on fishing, subvillages remain (increasingly) vulnersistence farming and small businesses.
Stakeholder consultation workshop in Ribeira Afonso, São Tomé
able to flooding. Moreover, the project
revealed that the non-maintenance of
On behalf of the Ministry of Public
coastal palm plantations following the
Works and Natural Resources of this
collapse of the colonial institutional
small island nation, the UNESCOstructure may have contributed to inIHE and Deltares project quantified
creased erosion of Santomean beaches.
contemporary and potential future river
Old maps show coastlines dotted with
and coastal inundation and coastal eropalm trees that have disappeared in the
sion hazards driven by climate change,
last three decades, potentially exposusing data analysis and sophisticated
ing the villages to intensified hazards
hydrological and coastal numerical
from the sea. The proposed adaptation
modelling. The project is an excellent
measures therefore include a combiexample of how a variety of existing
nation of institutional and technical
modelling methods could be strategiaspects, including comprehensive spatial
cally used to quantify coastal inundaplanning, relocation of villages, divertion and erosion hazards in a data-poor
Malanza village, São Tomé
sifying livelihoods, replanting coastal
study area. These hazard estimates
trees, improving drainage systems and
were then used in conjunction with
the construction of river and sea walls.
a socio-economic study of the target
The study recommends that the implementation of these measures
coastal communities to produce risk assessment maps for the vilshould be done in close collaboration with the local communities
lage infrastructure and productive assets. Subsequently, potential
and responsible authorities to ensure their needs are appropriately
adaptation measures were identified via a series of consultations
addressed and that institutional structures should be set up to mainwith the local population and key informants, following the princitain the implemented adaptation measures into the future.
ples of participatory coastal zone management.
18
r.ranansinghe@unesco-ihe.org or j.kemerink@unesco-ihe.org
© Getty Images
PROJECT PROGRESS REPORT
Flood waters from the Po river rise creating an emergency situation October 16, 2000 in Turin, Italy.
Cultivating a culture
of risk prevention
Risk prevention, reduction and management play a crucial role in reducing human losses and
economic damages caused by natural disasters around the globe. The KULTURisk project aims to
cultivate a European culture of risk prevention by assessing the socio-economic benefits of risk
prevention techniques and transferring that knowledge to policymakers and practitioners.
A literature review addressed three aspects: risk prevention, prevention measures, and risk communication. The
aim was to identify knowledge gaps and propose further
research. One issue revealed by the literature review is a
potential conflict between national and EU legislation on
water management and flood prevention. National laws and
regulations already in place before the Water Framework
Directive, the Flood Directive and other relevant legislation
entered into force may cause complications during implementation, particularly in the definition of responsibilities
and institutional competences.
Where flooding was once a problem addressed primarily
by engineers, current approaches combine engineering,
environmental science, and socio-economic aspects in an
integrated and sustainable approach to flood management,
concentrating on hazard, vulnerability and risk assessment. However, stakeholders are often largely left out of
the equation, and community participation is only visible
during the final selection of risk management measures.
Risk perception amongst local stakeholders relies more
on qualitative dimensions that are more complicated to assess. Research opportunities include assessing the factors
that influence risk perception, e.g. the immediacy of an
adverse effect.
Increased global interdependence underlines the necessity
of cooperation, coordination and information exchange on
early warning systems (EWS), which should be properly integrated into policies and risk management plans. Effective
communication of EWS information to the public and to the
scientific community makes people better prepared to cope
with emergencies.
The intangible costs of natural disasters are controversial
to monetize, but must be identified to assess the total
burden that a disaster places on society and the affected
ecosystem. Total cost comprises all direct, indirect, tangible and intangible costs. A cost-effectiveness approach is
more appropriate for a comprehensive assessment of risk
prevention measures.
Appropriate land-use planning coupled with building codes
and individual flood proofing provide methods for reducing risk, whereas flood protection measures and EWS can
protect properties in flood-prone areas. Insurance and other
similar mechanisms of risk transfer can create incentives for
risk reduction in risk-prone areas, but these mechanisms face
significant obstacles. Although flood insurance is provided in
many European countries, availability, structure and coverage of insurance and risk transfer policies varies widely, as
do government involvement and market penetration.
Visualizing flood hazard as a probability accounts for
uncertainty in the modelling process. There is a common
perception that decision makers would prefer deterministic binary maps over probabilistic maps, mainly because
uncertainty estimation in modelling water-related hazards
is still under development. Further research is needed on
the potential value of probabilistic maps and how they are
perceived by different actors.
www.kulturisk.eu
Further research
The KULTUrisk project is currently
working on the risk prevention
policy framework and developing
a baseline for the application of
risk-based methodology in various
risk prevention measures. Moreover,
preparations are underway
to communicate standard risk
prevention methods to decisionmakers, stakeholders and end users,
which will be compared later with
improved risk prevention methods.
Facts & figures
•Funding
EC FP7 Project
•Budget
Over 4.4 M Euros
•Leading Organization
UNESCO-IHE
•Project Coordinator
Giuliano Di Baldassarre
g.dibaldassarre@unesco-ihe.org
•Project Manager
Leonardo Alfonso Segura
l.alfonso@unesco-ihe.org
19
PoPULAR SCiENCE
UNESCO-IHE carries out many research
projects and produces many written
research outputs, such as conference
proceedings, peer-reviewed papers, PhD
theses, book chapters, and complete
textbooks. The editors of UPDATE would
like to share some of its recent research
output with a broader audience. For this
edition, we have selected work by Victor
Yangali et al., for which we have received
a large number of citations in a relatively
short period. Victor, one of UNESCOIHE’s former PhD students, successfully
defended his PhD thesis in early 2010 and
currently holds a postdoctoral position
at King Abdullah University for Science
and Technology in Thuwal, Kingdom of
Saudi-Arabia.
Authors:
Victor Yangali-Quintanilla, Anwar Sadmani,
Megan McConville, Maria Kennedy and Gary Amy
Published in:
Water Research, 44 (2010), pp. 373-384.
Predicting rejection of
emerging contaminants by
nanofiltration membranes
Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis are technologies used
to filter water to remove micropollutants (pharmaceuticals,
endocrine disruptors, pesticides, and other organic compounds).
Understanding the physico-chemical properties of compounds
and membrane characteristics can help explain the transport,
adsorption, and removal of micropollutants by diverse
mechanisms, such as size exclusion, hydrophobic adsorption and
partitioning, and electrostatic repulsion.
Some researchers have proposed a mechanistic understanding
of the interaction between membranes and organic compounds;
others have tried to apply fitting parameter models for the
purpose of modelling rejection. However, only a few models
have been developed for the purpose of predicting the rejection
of compounds.To expand the ‘toolbox’ in this specific area,
Yangali and co-workers developed a general Quantitative
Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) model for predicting
rejection of emerging contaminants by polyamide nanofiltration
membranes.
QSAR is a set of statistical methods used to quantify, in this
case, rejection by a membrane of emerging contaminants –
such as pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors – due to the
physico-chemical properties of these emerging contaminants,
the characteristics of membranes, and membrane operating
conditions. The model was constructed with internal
20
experimental data used for training. The result was a relatively
simple algorithm, an equation, which was applied to estimate
rejection rates for an external dataset comprising different
compounds and membranes.
The team found that a unified general QSAR equation was
able to predict rejection of emerging contaminants during
nanofiltration. The most important physico-chemical properties
influencing rejection were the partitioning coefficient (logD),
equivalent molecular width, molecular depth, and molecular
length. The most important membrane characteristic was the
molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) size. It must be noted that
rejection of contaminants may be more difficult to estimate for
nanofiltration membranes with a broad MWCO range (pore size
and distribution), especially when fouling occurs. Therefore,
it might be easier to use the salt rejection parameter instead; a
QSAR algorithm for predicting rejection was also developed for
such a case. For example, excessive changes in pH affect the ionic
speciation of charged compounds, and changes of membrane
properties such as charge and pore size due to swelling will also
influence the model. Nonetheless, the approach is valid and can
be generalized under certain conditions in upscaled nanofiltration
applications. It may also be of value for the construction of
a model with combined datasets organized in training and
testing groups, and provides a basis for further research using
multivariate analysis techniques for understanding membrane
rejection of organic compounds.
victor.yangali@kaust.edu.sa
PUBLiCATioNS
PhD Dissertations
SwiTCh PUBLiCATioNS
The UNESCO-IHE led SWITCH project has set out to achieve more sustainable urban
water management in the ‘City of the Future’. With support from the EC through its 6th
Framework Programme, a consortium of 33 partners from 15 countries have worked
together for five years (2006-2011) to create innovative scientific, technological
and socio-economic solutions that can be replicated around the world. The project
has produced a wide range of products, including these 6 resources that are free and
downloadable from the http://www.switchtraining.eu/ website.
SWItcH tRAINING KIt
INTEGRATED URBAN WATER
MANAGEMENT IN THE CITY OF THE
FUTURE
Sustainable
Water
Management
in the City
of the Future
Findings from
the SWITCH Project
2006-2011
The results of the SWITCH project are
presented in a book on “Sustainable
Water management in the city of the
Future”, which doubles as the final report
on the project. It contains information
on how Learning Alliances were set up
in the demonstration cities and how
they engaged stakeholders in a strategic
planning process for the urban water
system. Innovative strategic options for
urban water management that were
developed in the project are presented.
The book ends with a self-assessment of
the impact made by the project and a list
of MSc studies, PhD research and peer
reviewed publications.
Reference:
C.A. Howe, A.M. Duffy, I.K. Smout, J.
Butterworth, N. P. van der Steen and
K. Vairavamoorthy (2011) SWITCH.
Sustainable Water Management in the
City of the Future. Findings from the
SWITCH project 2006-2011. UNESCOIHE Institute for Water Education. ISBN
978-90-73445-00-0
AdAPtING URBAN WAtER SyStEmS
tO cLImAtE cHANGE
A HANDBOOK FOR DECISION MAKERS
AT THE LOCAL LEVEL
ISBN: 978-3-943107-10-4
www.adaptationhandbook.org
WAtER dEmANd mANAGEmENt IN
tHE cIty OF tHE FUtURE
SELECTED TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS
FOR PRACTITIONERS
ISBN: 978-1-84380-136-8
www.switchurbanwater.eu
tHE SWItcH tRANSItION mANUAL
ISBN: 978-1-899796-23-6
http://www.uwtc.tay.ac.uk
climate of coastal cooperation
ISBN 978-90-75502-09-1
Download the full publication and backgrounds
on the www.coastalcooperation.net
ISBN: 978-3-943107-01-2
http://www.switchtraining.eu/
WAtER SENSItIvE URBAN dESIGN
PRINCIPLES AND INSPIRATION
FOR SUSTAINABLE STORMWATER
MANAGEMENT IN THE CITY OF THE
FUTURE
ISBN: 978-3-86859-106-4
www.switchurbanwater.eu
By 2050 over 75% of the world population will
live in large cities in the low lying delta areas of
the world. Many publications on climate change,
sea level rise and flood risk indicate towards
future disasters that seem almost unavoidable.
The publication Climate of Coastal Cooperation
(CCC), edited by Robbert Misdorp provides
information on global experience available to
deal with these issues.
The publication provides an overview of
integrated coastal zone management (ICZM)
solutions on the basis of contributions by experts
from Europe and South East Asia. The book
shows many case studies and approaches leading
towards sustainable solutions for large scale,
complex and vulnerable urban environments
in many different places around the world.
The book is also an invitation to countries and
governments to use and apply Dutch expertise
to protect the economic infrastructure of the
new urbanized delta regions of the world. Use
of complex scientific theory is avoided, which
makes the book very suitable as a source of
inspiration for planners and policy makers.
www.coastalcooperation.net
PhD PUBLiCATioNS
PARTICULATE AND
ORGANIC MATTER FOULING
OF SEAWATER REVERSE
OSMOSIS SYSTEMS
CHARACTERIZATION, MODELLING AND APPLICATIONS
The economics
of susTainable
urban waTer
managemenT
Predicting
Storm SurgeS
Chaos, Computational intelligenCe,
Data assimilation, ensembles
SUSTAINABLE
IRRIGATION
DEVELOPMENT
IN THE WHITE VOLTA SUB-BASIN
the case of Beijing
s.g. salinas rodríguez
xiao liang
michael siek
eric antwi ofosu
MODELLING
MORPHOLOGICAL
RESPONSE OF LARGE
TIDAL INLET SYSTEMS
TO SEA LEVEL RISE
pushpa kumara dissanayake
Full text versions of most of the UNESCO-IHE PhD dissertations are available through NARCIS. NARCIS provides access to full-text
publications and research output from all Dutch universities, KNAW, NWO and a number of scientific institutes.
www.narcis.info/repositories/repository/unesco | Alternatively you can also purchase the dissertations from www.crcpress.com
21
PROJECT PROGRESS REPORT
How to kill the floods
by jos wassink
© Spate Irrigation Network
Together with Ethiopia’s Haramaya University,
UNESCO-IHE has started a unique master
course in an ancient yet nearly forgotten form
of water management, called spate irrigation.
The first six students started their two-year
course in Alemaya last September.
Traditional dyke in Al Romaila area near Jazoa vellige, in Wadi Dawan, Yemen
In spate irrigation, everything works differently. Most irrigation works
make use of continuously flowing (perennial) rivers to moisten the crops
on an almost continuous basis. Spate irrigation however uses the wild
and muddy waters from rivers that appear only sporadically. The sudden
floods or spates that rush from the mountains inundate the lands with perhaps as much as a metre of water. Only then crops are sown: cereals and
oilseed but also cotton and even vegetables. Typical spate irrigation sites
are the arid flatlands at the foot of mountains in South Asia, the Middle
East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa.
“Spate irrigations are among the most fascinating and complex water
management systems,” says specialist Frank van Steenbergen, from the
MetaMeta private research organization. “It’s like a virus: once you’ve
been infected with it, you can’t get rid of it.” Rudolph Cleveringa,
senior technical advisor with the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) in Rome, shares Van Steenbergen’s fascination:
“Once infected with the spate irrigation virus, I began to dig up who-iswho and what-is-what in spate. What was an innovation for me turned
out to be a centuries-old, well-balanced system of land and water rights.”
“The main focus of the Master’s education,” says senior lecturer,
Abraham Mehari Haile, PhD, of UNESCO-IHE, “is to make clear how different spate irrigation is from perennial irrigation in its design, manage22
ment, hydrology, operation and management. Once the students know
these differences, they can design with a broader knowledge.”
UNESCO-IHE, MetaMeta and IFAD have joined forces in the Spate
Irrigation Network, which aims to reinvigorate this nearly forgotten type
of water management, in order to share the best practices and spread
knowledge locally to practitioners. The network focuses on Ethiopia,
Sudan, Yemen and Pakistan.
Currently the area under spate irrigation is estimated at 2 to 2.5 million
hectares (half the size of the Netherlands). In future, more farmland is
expected to become spate-dependent as a consequence of deforestation
(less water is retained) and depletion of ground water reservoirs.
Surging mud
Frank van Steenbergen saw spate irrigation first in Balochistan, in the
west of Pakistan, twenty years ago. The enormous waterworks astonished him. He saw large earthen barricades, 10 to 15 metres high that
bulldozers had build right across a dry riverbed. In Eritrea, where they
lacked such machinery, people even used oxen with scraperboards to
draw mud up the dam, and then fortified it with scrub.
Once the river rose and the flood waters came, the large dam blocked
the stream and forced the water sideways onto the farmland. The water
streamed along earthen weirs, 2 to 3 metres high and
some kilometres long, until it had finally lost its momentum and spread evenly over the land. “You can only use
the water once it has lost its speed,” Van Steenbergen explains. “Or, as the Pakistanis say: ‘You must kill the flood’.
Otherwise the soil will simply be washed away.” Once
the fields are firmly inundated, a berth is made in the main
barricade. The river then surges through it and rushes on
to the next barrier and the adjacent farmlands. And so on.
If this seems all perfectly sensible, the trouble comes after
a few years when the sediment from the stream (sand
can account for up to 10 percent of volume) builds up on
the fields and raises them above the river’s flood level.
Farmers know that, as they are used to moving to new
fields every five to ten years. They adapt to nature. “Spate
irrigation is a Taoist form of water management,” says
Van Steenbergen. “It merely makes use of nature, rather
than trying to control it, which is the more traditional
Confucianist style of water management.”
What Rudolph Cleveringa saw some ten years later in the
Gash region around Kassala, in Sudan, was a spate irrigation scheme gone into decay. “Getting a piece of wetted
land was a lottery with over 72,000 people buying raffle
tickets in an overloaded system. The irrigation couldn’t be
mastered like good-old surface-water take-off. The canals
were clogged, bridges were drowned, and distribution
works didn’t work as designed.” He noticed that drinking
pools for livestock were filled with sand instead of water,
huge pools of invested water had formed in the lower
lying areas, and the inner delta at the end of the river “was
dry with a capital D”.
The Government of Sudan had requested IFAD to help
and rehabilitate the irrigation works. Cleveringa recalls:
“After extensive consultations and negotiations with government officials, local stakeholders and farmers, a fullyfledged livelihoods regeneration support programme was
finally agreed upon in 2003.”
The rehabilitation programme was as much about resolving land and water rights and having people assume
collective responsibility for the canal operation and
maintenance, as it was about civil engineering, like reconstructing river intake weirs and setting up distribution
works on secondary channels.
Looking back over the eight years since the beginning
of the Gash Project, Van Steenbergen summed up the
intermediate results in his report for IFAD: two-thirds of
the targeted 100,000 hectares had been reopened for
spate irrigation; settlements of disputes were respected;
the production of sorghum had risen by a modest 8
percent but fodder by 60 percent. The cattle stock of the
semi-nomadic population had grown by 12 percent and
milk production by 62 percent. All in all, the region could
provide 80 percent of its food requirements – which is
quite an achievement compared to the ‘serious threat to
the livelihood’ that Cleveringa had encountered eight
years before.
Suleiman Range
Kacchi Plains
Bund
Guide bund
Indus
Kirther Range
The dry side of the Indus - the extensive lowland spate areas of Pakistan.
they regarded it as a subsidence system of marginal economic importance.
As a consequence of this neglect, most practical grassroots knowledge of how to kill the flood, how to arrange
access to land and water, and how to prevent the whole
system from silting up was largely forgotten.
Like rare seedlings in a nursery, six students have now enrolled in the new double Master’s course of ‘agricultural
water management in (semi) arid regions’. They students
come from Ethiopia (three), Sudan, Yemen and Pakistan
(one each), on a grant from IFAD. These students are to
become the ambassadors of spate irrigation, says Mehari.
“They will learn about the design of irrigation structures;
the management of these, including social and institutional aspects. It will be a comprehensive programme.”
After their initial three months at Haramaya University, in
Ethiopia, the students will be taught at the Delft Institute
for Water Education for nine months. Their research project (half a year) takes place in their homeland. It will focus
on a practical spate irrigation issue. Thus, the spate irrigation network hopes to strengthen the regional nodes and
to develop and disseminate knowledge into the regions
were it is needed most.
The ambitions of the spate irrigation network go well
beyond subsidence farming. Indeed, spate irrigation can
germinate a green economy, says Cleveringa. “Simply
said, environmental flows can recharge aquifers, enable
carbon sequestration, increase biodiversity and keep the
habitat for further beneficial exploration. That’s what is
happening in the Gash.”
“With spate irrigation you can develop range lands, you
can develop agro forestry and recharge ground water,”
Mehari adds. “Spate irrigation can be the key to developing a local economy. Waterworks alone are not sufficient;
it should be part of the bigger livelihood picture. Then
you get investments, and agricultural products get a value.
The Spate Irrigation
Network aims to improve
the livelihoods of those
living in the spate irrigated
areas. It exchanges experiences and good practices,
initiates and supports new
programmes and policies,
and mainstreams education and training. The
network consists of professionals, practitioners
and farmers. At present
the network has more
than 400 members. It is
being run with a small part
time international secretariat (at MetaMeta and
UNESCO-IHE) whereas
in four countries national
chapters are being set up:
in Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan
and Ethiopia, though activities are not confined to
these countries. The Spate
Irrigation Network is currently supported by IFAD,
World Bank/EKN, UNWDPC, UNESCO-IHE/
DUPC and FAO. Joining
the Network is free.
more information
Rudolph Cleveringa
r.cleveringa@ifad.org
Frank van Steenbergen
fvansteenbergen@metameta.nl
Abraham Mehari Haile
a.meharihaile@unesco-ihe.org
country Network team leaders
RESToRiNG KNowLEDGE
Yemen: Sharafaddin Saleh
sharafaddens@yahoo.com or
sharaf1960s@gmail.com
Although spate irrigation probably dates back to biblical
times, much of the knowledge seems to have evaporated
over the last generation. Part of the explanation for this is
that spate irrigation was outflanked by perennial irrigation, in which western engineers excelled. If indeed water
management specialists were aware of the strange customs of diverging floods onto the fields, they perceived it
as a risky and an unpredictable practice. Plus, says Mehari,
Pakistan: Karim Nawaz
knawaz99@yahoo.com
Ethiopia: Tena Alamirew
alamirew2004@yahoo.com
Sudan: Ms. Eiman Mohamed Fadul
hrs_iman@hotmail.com
www.spate-irrigation.org/spate-irrigation-network
23
www.unesco-ihe.org/UPDATE-Magazine
PAST EVENTS
DELFT | 20 JUNE
GHANA | 5 AUGUST
GHENT | END JUNE
Visit first
course Sanitary
Engineering
alumni
KNUST Wins Top
Research Scientists
Awards
PhD RESEARCH FELLOW
WINS 3 AWARDS
From 1960 to 1961, UNESCO-IHE ran
its first course in Sanitary Engineering.
Now, 50 years later, three graduates of this
European Course in Sanitary Engineering,
have returned to Delft to visit their Alma
Mater. Bill Ferguson (UK), Erling Solberg
(Norway) and Gerard van der Kroon (the
Netherlands) were welcomed in the small
town on this festive occasion. Their activities
included taking a tour of the current facilities, and discussing the Institute then and
now, and developments in their field over
the last 50 years, with current UNESCOIHE staff and students.
See video 50 year Sanitary Engineering
Two scientists from the Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology in Ghana were awarded
the best research scientists at the First Ghana
Research Science Congress under the theme ‘Water,
Sanitation and Environment: Securing our Future
through Science’. The awarding took place during
an official awarding ceremony at the Banquet Hall of
the State House in Ghana that was attended by many
dignitaries. The event is meant to award scientists
for their immense contributions to the development
of Ghana. Samuel Nii Odai, Associate Professor at
the Department of Civil Engineering and Head of the
Quality Assurance and Planning Unit, and Prof. Esi
Awuah, a Former Dean and Head of the Department
of Civil Engineering received the only awards in the
“The Best Research Scientist” category. The two professors from the Water and Environmental Sanitation
Centre, KNUST, received these prestigious national
awards for recognition of their contributions in the
area of Water, Sanitation and Environment.
www.knust.edu.gh
a.kumar@unesco-ihe.org
DELFT | SEPTEMBER
PhD SEMINAR: OPTIMIZING WATER USE IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
From 26 to 30 September the annual UNESCO-IHE PhD seminar was held at the Institute. Current PhD
fellows presented the latest results of their work. The yearly event brings together PhD research students in a
three-day event and provides a setting for PhD fellows to present their research to their peers and obtain their
feedback. The event creates an opportunity for interaction, networking, sharing of information and ideas, and
collaboration. The symposium was followed by the SENSE Course on ‘Environmental research in context’ and is
attended by more than 60 PhD fellows of whom 20 are from UNESCO-IHE.
Download the full programme and selected abstracts
AMSTERDAM | 29 October - 4 November
INTERNATIONAL WATER WEEK
Amsterdam RAI organized the first International Water Week in November in
Amsterdam with the International Water Association (IWA), the Netherlands Water
Partnership (NWP) and Waternet. The theme week offered a range of events and
meetings for professionals in water technology and water management, providing a
small-scale but real-time showcase of the accomplishments that are possible when
good water technology meets good water management. During the week also a fourday young scientists workshop was held on water challenges related to urbanization.
The workshop brought together some 35 international PhD students and young
professionals from the industrial sector. They were tasked to jointly address global
problems associated with the rapid growth of cities around the world. The workshop
was scientifically supervised by three professors of water management and several
senior water professionals. The workshop outcomes included a joint vision on opportunities to solve urbanization issues. The Young Water Professionals Programme was
organized by Waternet, IWA and Amsterdam RAI in collaboration with UNESCOIHE, NWP and the Royal Dutch Water Network.
www.internationalwaterweek.com / a.lobbrecht@unesco-ihe.org
24
Amit Kumar won an
award from the Air &
Waste Management
Association international doctoral
dissertation award
2011 with his PhD
thesis in Biological Engineering. The thesis is entitled
“Mass transport and degradation of gaseous pollutants in membrane biofilm reactors: an environmental
bioprocess engineering approach”. Kumar also
received the second poster prize in the category
‘Exploiting the water-energy nexus’, and co-authored
one of the winning posters in another category
‘Microbial Resource Analysis’ at the first international
symposium on Microbial Resource Management in
Biotechnology, held at the end of June in Belgium.
Amit Kumar is presently a Marie Curie Intra-European
Research Fellow (IEF) at the Pollution Prevention
and Control Core in the Environmental Resources
Department at UNESCO-IHE.
stockholm | 21-27 AUGUST
WORLD WaterWeek
DELFT | OCTOBER
DOORS OPEN TO 155 NEW MSc PARTICIPANTS
The World Water Week has been the annual
focal point for global water issues since 1991.
It is hosted and organised by the Stockholm
International Water Institute (SIWI) and
takes place each year in Stockholm. This year
UNESCO-IHE participated at the Water Week,
themed ‘Responding to Global Changes Water in an Urbanising World’. UNESCO-IHE
co-convened the seminar on ‘Pro-Poor Urban
Water and Sanitation Provision: how can it
be supported by participation, benchmarking
and WOPs’ and also co-convened the Asian
Development Bank-led Seminar entitled ‘Focus:
Eye on Asia’. The Centre for Science and
Environment together with the SWITCH project
- with UNESCO-IHE as lead partner - were the
co-conveners of the Stockholm International
Water Institute led workshop entitled ‘Need for
a Paradigm Shift: New Technologies and New
Lifestyles’. The joint UNESCO-IHE & IHP booth
was much frequented by Water Week participants and various UNESCO-IHE alumni.
www.worldwaterweek.org
See video interviews in the Watercube
Thursday 20 October 2011, marked the day that
UNESCO-IHE officially welcomed 155 Masters
of Science participants from developing countries.
Prof. András Szöllösi-Nagy, Rector, welcomed the
participants in the auditorium in the presence of many
high-level guests, members of the diplomatic community, staff and participants.
UNESCO ADG and KNUST Vice-Chancellor Address
This year, honorary speaker, Prof. Gretchen Kalonji,
Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, welcomed
the students on behalf of the UNESCO family and
Prof. Ellis, Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology, came on stage
to call upon joining efforts in postgraduate education before signing an agreement to establish a joint
Masters of Science programme between KNUST and
UNESCO-IHE in Water Supply and Environmental
Sanitation (KNUST), and an MSc degree in Municipal
Water and Infrastructure (MWI), with a specialisation in either Sanitary Engineering or Water Supply
Engineering (UNESCO-IHE).
Laudatio Chris Kalden
Finally Chris Kalden, was called on stage. He retired
from the board of the IHE Delft Foundation and the
UNESCO-IHE Governing Board last August after 15
years of serving the institute in a governance capacity. He
currently serves as the Director of the Dutch Stateforestryservice, which manages 250,000 hectares of nature reserves across the Netherlands. See board member interview
on page 5.
Guided City Tour
The official ceremony was preceded by a guided city tour,
and followed by the annual ‘Experience the Netherlands’
reception. During the tour, the new students enjoyed discovering Delft by boat, and getting the best inside information
during a guided walk. At the ‘Experience the Netherlands’
reception, all guests were invited to discover the
Netherlands through all their senses: tasting typical Dutch
food, smelling the sweet odours of Dutch ‘stroopwafels’.
SINT MAARTEN | 12 SEPTEMBER
MONACO | 7 OCTOBER
Sint Maarten hosts
GIS and Remote
Sensing Workshop
RECTOR AWARDED
PRINCE ALBERT
MONACO PRIZE
Prof. András Szöllösi-Nagy, Rector of UNESCO-IHE,
was awarded the Water Prize of the Prince Albert
II of Monaco Foundation for his contribution to the
Sciences and creating a better understanding of the
environment. Particularly for being instrumental in
reforming the teaching of multidisciplinary water resources for the benefit of developing countries. Over
the past 17 years, as Governor of the World Water
Council, he drew attention to the issue of water in
the world and educated both the general public and
policy makers on the subject. The event took place
at an official awarding ceremony in Monte Carlo on
7 October, in the presence of 1500 guests from all
over the world.
Other award winners include: Dr. David Suzuki
(Canada), in the category ‘Climate Change’ and Dr.
Gretchen Daily (USA), received the award in the category ‘Biodiversity’. The Prince Albert II Foundation
is a Monaco-based charity which has donated millions
in various environmental projects. The Foundation
was initially created in 2006 by H.S.H. Prince Albert
II of Monaco and it concentrates on environmental
See the video on the opening and listen to the speeches.
protection, sustainable development, climate change
and the promotion of renewable energies as well as
biodiversity. The Foundation supports also projects
which develop water resource management or desertification control technologies. In just three years, the
Foundation has extended its international outreach
by opening chapters in Europe (France, Switzerland,
the UK, Italy and Germany), in Canada and, in 2008,
the United States of America. Since its inception,
95+ projects have benefited from Foundation grants
totaling more than US$20 million.
Read the full article on the UNESCO-IHE website
A GIS and Remote Sensing for Infrastructure
Management and Disaster Risk Reduction R3I
Regional Risk Reduction Initiative project workshop was held on Sint Maarten.The basic GIS training course was given by Zoran Vojinovic, Associate
Professor of Hydroinformatics at UNESCO-IHE.
The 18 participants included representatives from
the Fire Department, the Anguilla Department of
Disaster Management, the British Virgin Islands
Department of Disaster Management and the
Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Development,
Environment and Infrastructure. The islands of Sint
Maarten are highly vulnerable to various natural
hazards and climate change impacts, also having
fragile ecosystems and concentrations of settlements and major functions in low lying coastal areas
and other hazard prone locations. This project addresses the risk and exposure of these small islands
by providing a network of regional infrastructure,
programmes, policies and protocols to strengthen
their capacity to predict and prepare for natural
hazards, thus improving resilience and reducing
risk and subsequent loss.
z.vojinovic@unesco-ihe.org
25
STAFF NEwS
iNTERViEw
delft-based alumni remain active in the field
the recent Alumni tracer Survey indicates that
94 percent of UNEScO-IHE’s students return to
their home country or region upon graduation.
Others continue with a Phd study or find a job
somewhere else. A small percentage, however,
pursues their career in delft at UNEScO-IHE.
Update magazine interviewed three alumni who
work at IHE: maria Rusca (Italy, Wm 2009),
Lecturer in management and Organization of
Sanitation, carlos Lopez (mexico, Phd 2009),
Lecturer in Sanitary/Wastewater Engineering
and masoom Hamdard (Afghanistan, ESt 2010),
Lecturer in Environmental Policy.
Are there differences between studying at and
working for UNESCo-ihE?
CL: After finishing my PhD, I started working
for a company in the Netherlands. I didn’t
notice a big difference when I returned to UNESCO-IHE a year later. For example, during
my PhD studies, I did a lot of work in the laboratory and always got along very well with the
lab staff; coming back to UNESCO-IHE, it was
very easy to continue to work with them. MR:
As a student, you receive intensive guidance in
the limited time you spend at UNESCO-IHE,
while working here requires more autono-
mous thinking and more initiative. As far as
relations are concerned, I feel the same as Carlos; I already got acquainted with various staff
members when I was studying here, and those
relationships haven’t changed. MH: From a
cultural background, I must say that compared
to Afghanistan, I noticed as a student that
there was less distance between students and
lecturers. Now that I’m a staff member, I still
have to get used to that a bit. For example, I
always use titles like doctor and professor, but
most colleagues insist that I call them by their
first name. I really appreciate that. CL: There is
STAFF ChANGES
APPoiNTED PERSoNNEL
Paul Libaudière
Lecturer in Business Economy - MAI
Masoom hamdard
Lecturer in Environmental Policy
Uta wehn de Montalvo
Senior Researcher and Programme Coordinator
hanan Nabil-Abdenbi
Employee Benefits Officer
Kenneth Irvine
Professor of Aquatic Ecosystems
Johan Reyns
Lecturer Water Engineering
26
ChANGED PoSiTioNS
Erwin Ploeger
Head Education Bureau
Wendy Sturrock
Senior Lecturer Language and
Academic Skills
DEPARTiNG STAFF
Kebreab Ghebremichael
Senior Lecturer in Water Supply
yunqing Xuan
Lecturer in Hydroinformatics
diederik Rousseau
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Engineering
Jouke Heeringa
Senior Policy Advisor
Ewout Heeringa
Social & Cultural Officer
Roland Price
Senior Advisor in Hydroinformatics
Peter Koelmans
Reproduction Officer
NEw DEPARTMENT
Newly established Education Bureau
ChANGED DEPARTMENTS
Personnel & Organization to Human Resources
management
cS - Ict to It department
oPiNioN
The right vehicle
for whom?
also less time for that. In my case, I have
a family and I also want to spend time
with them. I had more ‘social IHE time’
when I was studying.
in your professional activities, is there
still a special relationship with your home
country?
MH: In the longer term, I will most
probably return to my country, but for
now I feel that I can be more effective
working here. Currently, together with
our Deputy Director Joop de Schutter,
we are setting up a capacity development project for the water sector in
Afghanistan. UNESCO-IHE has been
an ideal platform to initiate this project;
I would never have managed to do this
from Afghanistan. Furthermore, I am
helping new students from Afghanistan
who would like to come here, giving
them the right information and directing them to the right persons. MR:
Although my professional focus is on
sub-Saharan Africa, I still teach in the
Peace and Education MSc programme at
the Roma Tre University in Rome. I am
also on the scientific committee of that
programme, deciding on themes and
course improvements. My colleagues at
Roma Tre appreciate getting input from
someone who is working in a different
system. CL: In setting up projects in
Latin America, I can help to overcome
the language barrier and make use of
the contacts I have there. We are now
exploring the possibilities for starting
an advisory project in Mexico; in that
context, I am in contact with various
people from my former University of
the State of México in Toluca.
Are you in contact with fellow alumni,
socially and/or professionally?
CL: I am in contact with various alumni
in Latin America, working with them
on projects in Cuba and Colombia. One
of the contacts there is the director of
the Cuban National Water Resources
Centre. We had never met before,
but when he heard I had also studied
in Delft, it helped to break the ice in
the initial phase of the project. MR:
Before coming to UNESCO-IHE,
my alumni network opened up work
opportunities; I have been working
on various projects through these
contacts. Professionally, I am not yet
working with alumni, but I just started
at the beginning of this year, so that
will surely come. On the other hand,
I am in contact with many of them
socially, I’ll be travelling to Namibia
in a few weeks to meet several friends
from UNESCO-IHE, who will show
me around. MH: The alumni from Afghanistan that I studied with now work
for the Ministry of Energy and Water
and the Ministry of Agriculture in that
country. I am involved in a project to
bring them together with the University in Kabul, so we communicate a
lot. I keep in touch with many alumni
socially, especially online, for example
through Facebook.
By the way, how is your Dutch? Do you
feel that you are already part of society?
MR: As most people in the Netherlands speak English very well, we can
do without, but I do feel I have to learn
the basics of the Dutch language as a
matter of loyalty to the country I’m
working in. CL: (laughs) When I was
a student I knew survival words like
‘korting’ (discount) and ‘uitverkoop’
(sale). Now that I’m working here, I’ve
learned other words like ‘Belastingdienst’ (tax administration) and ‘formulieren’ (forms). Anyway, it’s not crucial,
but knowing a number of words helps a
lot in feeling at home here.
DEPARTMENT ChANGES
NEw DEPARTMENTS
following internal reforms, the institute will
have three new academic departments, that are
in line with the global developments in scientific
research and education in the field of water and
environment. these departments are sufficiently
distinct in academic orientation and approaches
to water systems, while enabling synergies to be
found in project activities. these departments
have become operational since 1 october
2011. for now, we are pleased to announce
the three new academic departments and their
new Heads of department and deputy Heads of
department, who will be leading them for the
coming three years.
Water Science and Engineering
Head of Department: Prof. Arthur Mynett, PhD
Deputy Head of Department: Erik de Ruyter van Steveninck, PhD
Environmental Engineering and Water technology
Head of Department: Prof. Damir Brdjanovic, PhD
Deputy Head of Department: Saroj Sharma, PhD
Integrated Water Systems and Governance
Head of Department: Prof. Pieter van der Zaag, PhD
Deputy Head of Department: Ioana Popescu, PhD
All over the globe, extensive water reforms have
been carried out in the last decades. Reform
processes in most countries are inspired by the
IWRM principles such as the involvement of
stakeholders in decision-making processes and the
recognition of water as an economic commodity.
These principles have been translated into various
vehicles for implementation. Establishing Water
User Associations (WUAs), granting water
permits and introducing water tariffs are examples
that are included in many National Water Acts
nowadays. The implications differ greatly between
countries, water sectors and individual water
users, so whether or not the vehicles that are
proposed are considered correct and effective
depends on who is being asked.
Literature study and my own research in Southern
Africa make it clear that organizing water users
in WUAs is not only a challenge, entailing the
need to make people recognize problems in such
a way that collaboration at new territorial levels
of the hydrological boundaries seems necessary
and possible, but also carries a certain risk. In
many countries, WUAs are formed to organize
large numbers of smallholder farmers around
water to formalize their access to water, to collect
water fees, and to facilitate their participation in
decision making within collaborative platforms
at higher geographic levels. However, ‘traditional’
organization practices currently common among
smallholder farmers are not recognized in this
process, nor are the broader inequities that exist in
society. Large-scale water users are often allowed
to represent their own interests and can acquire
water permits on an individual basis. Yet the main
issue is that they are more acquainted with the
explicit and formal organizational structure of
the collaborative platforms; they know the rules,
so they know how to bend them. As result of this
bias, the platforms for interaction are captured
by the large-scale water users to control water
developments within the catchments, limiting
(future) access to water for the smallholders. The
smallholder farmers often end up paying more for
less.
So what are the implications for activities carried
out by UNESCO-IHE? Do we teach
our students how to facilitate the
establishment of WUAs? Do we
promote WUAs in our capacitybuilding programs? Do we carry
out research on how to make
WUAs work? I believe it is time to
critically reflect on the vehicles
that are proposed and to ask
ourselves who we want our
work to be helping.
Jeltsje Sanne Kemerink
is Lecturer in
Integrated Water
Resources Management
j.kemerink@unesco-ihe.org
27
ONLINE WATER RESOURCES
At your
fingertips
WaterWiki connects
Early Journal Content free access
Articles published prior to 1923 in the United States and
prior to 1870 elsewhere are now freely available to anyone,
anywhere in the world. This ‘Early Journal Content’ includes
discourse and scholarship in the arts and humanities, economics and politics, and in mathematics and other sciences.
The archives include nearly 500,000 articles from over 200
journals, representing six percent of the content on JSTOR.
http://www.jstor.org
Why the Blue Nile
carries brown waters
The Nile is vitally important to the lives of millions of people.
However, its river banks are suffering from massive soil erosion because of rapidly growing populations and the increased
use of land for agricultural purposes. The loss of soil comes at
a great cost to Ethiopian farmers, while the accumulation of
soil in water reservoirs and irrigation canals is a nuisance for
farmers downstream in Sudan. NWO-WOTRO interviewed
PhD Students Hermen Smit and Yasir Salih of UNESCO-IHE
whose research, which is part of the Blue Nile research project,
explores potential solutions to problems associated with soil
erosion. Salih examines soil particles from reservoirs in Sudan,
allowing him to identify the hotspots of soil erosion upstream.
Smit tries to find out why farmers continue using certain farming practices and why people respond differently to the problems. You can read the full interview and watch the video on
www.researchforglobaldevelopment.nl.
In every issue of UPDATE Magazine, we would like to share relevant online
resources with you for use by water professionals and others interested
in water-related teaching and reference materials and scientific research
findings, sharing the best (and worst) practices from the field. Send an email
to update@unesco-ihe.org if you wish to share websites, blogs, twitter
feeds, networks or communities with our readers.
28
WaterWiki aims at connecting Water professionals to knowledge and
experience based on work in the context of the United Nations; providing an
on-line collaboration platform for Water Sector Practitioners worldwide to
find and share their experience and lessons learned; and improving coordination and inter-agency cooperation in the water sector. Due to the nature of
the initiators and partners of WaterWiki, there is an emphasis on UN-related
info and knowledge. But by no means do we want to be limiting or exclusive
in any way. All to the contrary: Whatever knowledge and experience in the
area of development and water, sanitation, water resources management,
etc. that users find useful can - and should - be shared here!
A ‘Wiki’ is different from other websites. Every single page can be edited, or
new ones created instantly, by you - given you are logged in. Responsibility
for the posted content lies with each individual contributor. A Wiki is particularly suited to collaboration among peers in networks and communities of
practice. Think of it as a large black board, where all users are given chalk and
sponges to start writing up, or edit existing text. Wikipedia, the famous online collaborative encyclopedia with the humble vision “to capture the world’s
knowledge” is perhaps the best known Wiki-project; ten thousands of users
are constantly and jointly working on millions of articles/pages/entries.
http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/
Sanitation Soundbites
Climate Change Portal
The World Bank Climate Change Portal
is intended to provide quick and readily
accessible climate and climate-related
data to policy makers and development
practitioners. The site also includes a
mapping visualization tool (webGIS)
that displays key climate variables and
climate-related data. Just select your
project location within the map to get
climate information on your site. Select
any other tabs to view information on
climate related data or to access the
Screening Tool ADAPT. If you want to
visualize key variables click on the GIS
Maps from the left navigation menu.
If you want to visualize data from a
particular region (i.e Africa), click on
Regional Maps on the top menu.
The Water Supply and Sanitation
Collaborative Council (WSSCC)
provides many resources for the media.
This includes a nice set of radio broadcasts whereby issues on water, sanitation and hygiene are being discussed by
local stakeholders. The various audio
soundbite recordings are in the original
language of the country. Listen for instance to a radio discussion in Amharic
on the problems and solutions of using
water with high fluoride content, or
tune in to the radio drama in Nepali
‘God is Not Angry’ from the Nepalese
WASH Coalition. It explains that diarrhoea is a common disease related to
poor sanitation, lack of hygiene and
unsafe water. It is not a curse of God.
www.wsscc.org/resources/audio
COURSE INFORMATION | 2012| 2013
Innovative learning at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education equips professionals with the research, managerial and technical skills
needed to deal with challenges in the fields of water, the environment and infrastructure in their countries. For the latest information on the above
courses, including content, dates, duration and tuition fees, please see our website: www.unesco-ihe.org/education.
MSc PROGRAMMES
MSc PROGRAMME IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
SHORT COURSES 2012
Start date
Coastal Systems
16/Jan/12
Environmental Planning and Management
Db
Coastal and Port Structures I
13/Feb/12
Environmental Science and Technology
Db
Conventional Surface Water Treatment
13/Feb/12
Environmental Technology and Engineering
Jem
Negotiation and Mediation for Water Conflict Management I
13/Feb/12
Environmental Technology for Sustainable Development
Jdd
Water Quality Assessment
13/Feb/12
Lake Ecology **
20/Feb/12
Coastal and Port Structures II
05/Mar/12
Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment
05/Mar/12
Data Driven Modelling and Real Time Control of Water Systems *
05/Mar/12
Environmental Engineering
05/Mar/12
Environmental Policy Making
05/Mar/12
Groundwater Resources and Treatment
05/Mar/12
Negotiation and Mediation for Water Conflict Management II
05/Mar/12
Stream and River Ecology **
12/Mar/12
J
Limnology and Wetland Ecosystems
Db
Water Quality Management
MSc PROGRAMME IN MUNICIPAL WATER AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Db | Jdd
Sanitary Engineering
Jdd
Urban Water Engineering and Management
Db | Jdd
Water Supply Engineering
MSc PROGRAMME IN WATER MANAGEMENT
Water Conflict Management
Db
Advanced Water Treatment Technology
02/Apr/12
Water Resources Management
Db
Environmental Monitoring and Modelling
02/Apr/12
Water Services Management
Db
Environmental Planning and Implementation
02/Apr/12
Water Quality Management
Db
Financial Management of Water Organisations
02/Apr/12
Groundwater Exploration and Monitoring
02/Apr/12
Hydrological Data Collection and Processing
02/Apr/12
MSc PROGRAMME IN WATER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Agricultural Water Management for Arid and Semi-Arid Climates
Jdd
Integrated Asset Management Systems
02/Apr/12
Agricultural Water Management for Enhanced Land and Water Productivity
Jdd
Nanotechnology for Water and Wastewater Treatment
02/Apr/12
Ecohydrology
Jem
Resource Oriented Sanitation
02/Apr/12
Flood Risk Management
Jem
River Basin Modelling
02/Apr/12
Service Oriented Management of Irrigation Systems
02/Apr/12
Water Resources Planning
02/Apr/12
Db
Tropical Wetlands for Water Quality **
09/Apr/12
Hydroinformatics-Modelling and Information Systems for Water Management Db | J | Jdd
Hydrology and Water Resources
Db | J
Cleaner Production and the Water Cycle
23/Apr/12
Integrated Coastal Zone Management
23/Apr/12
International Port Seminar
23/Apr/12
Introduction to River Flood Modelling
23/Apr/12
Modelling Wastewater Treatment Processes and Plants
23/Apr/12
Tracer Hydrology and Flow System Analysis
23/Apr/12
Urban Flood Management and Disaster Risk Mitigation
23/Apr/12
Water and Environmental Law
23/Apr/12
Water Transport and Distribution I
23/Apr/12
Fisheries and Aquaculture **
30/Apr/12
Hydraulic Engineering and River Basin Development
Hydraulic Engineering - Coastal Engineering and Port Development
Hydraulic Engineering - Land and Water Development
Integrated Lowland Development and Management Planning
Db
J
Jdd
Jem
Db
Db | J
Jdd
Delft-based MSc specialisation
Joint programme
Joint double degree programme
Joint Erasmus Mundus programme
ONLINE COURSES 2012-2013
Start date
Service Oriented Management of Irrigation Systems
15/Jan/12
Environment and Global Change: Uncertainty and Risk Assessment
01/May/12
Biological Wastewater Treatment
01/Mar/12
Applied Groundwater Modelling
11/Jun/12
Ecological Sanitation
01/Mar/12
Aquatic Ecosystems: Processes and Applications
11/Jun/12
Flood Modelling for Management
01/Mar/12
Environmental System Modelling
11/Jun/12
Integrated Coastal Zone Management
01/Mar/12
Flood Risk Management
11/Jun/12
Integrated River Basin Management
01/Mar/12
Industrial Effluents Treatment and Residuals Management
11/Jun/12
Policy and Management in Developing Countries
01/Mar/12
Managing Water Organizations
11/Jun/12
Sanitation-related Urban Groundwater Pollution
01/Mar/12
Urban Water Systems
11/Jun/12
Water Quality Assessment
01/Mar/12
Water Treatment Processes and Plants
11/Jun/12
Wetland Management
01/Mar/12
Decentralised Water Supply and Sanitation
02/Jul/12
Water and Environmental Law and Policy
01/Apr/12
IWRM as Tool for Adaptation to Climate Change
02/Jul/12
Modelling Urban Drainage *
02/Jul/12
Modelling Urban Drainage and Sewerage
02/Jul/12
Cleaner Production and the Water Cycle
01/Sep/12
Public/Private Partnerships in the Water Sector
02/Jul/12
Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment
01/Sep/12
River Restoration and Rehabilitation *
02/Jul/12
Industrial Effluents *
01/Sep/12
Solid Waste Management
02/Jul/12
IWRM as a Tool for Adaption to Climate Change
01/Sep/12
Water Transport and Distribution II
02/Jul/12
Modelling Sanitation Systems
01/Sep/12
Watershed and River Basin Management
02/Jul/12
Public and Private Partnerships
01/Sep/12
Remediation and Handling of Contaminated Sediments *
03/Sep/12
Solid Waste Management
01/Sep/12
Small Hydropower Development *
10/Sep/12
Urban Drainage and Sewerage *
01/Sep/12
Spate Irrigation and Water Mngmnt under Drought and Water Scarcity 10/Sep/12
Water Transport and Distribution
01/Sep/12
GIS Modelling: SWAT
17/Sep/12
Decision Support Systems in River Basin Management
15/Sep/12
Morphological Modeling Using Delft3D *
17/Sep/12
Constructed Wetlands (in Spanish)
01/Oct/12
New Data Sources to Support Flood Modelling *
17/Sep/12
* Online course NOT eligible for NFP fellowships
www.unesco-ihe.org/education
* Short course NOT eligible for NFP fellowships
**Short course held at Egerton University in Kenya, and NOT eligible for NFP fellowships
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Season’s Greetings to all Alumni, Partners,
Sponsors and Friends of UNESCO-IHE
A year filled with exciting changes has almost passed and as we look into a future that is
bright and hopeful we look forward to staying in touch with you throughout the new year.
Please do not forget to send us updates on your activities, share your best practices, stories
from the field and any other news you may have.
We are happy to remain in touch with you and hear news from you.
In the new year we hope to receive more thoughts and updates from you as our valued alumni.
Stay in touch and follow UNESCO-IHE on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
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