Elena Bresci elena.bresci@unifi.it

Experiences abroad:

what we have learned

Welcome

Day

Firenze, 26 November 2020

Aula Magna, Scuola di Agraria, Firenze

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Outline

1. Which experiences ?

2. Where ?

3. For what ?

4. Which outcomes?

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1. Which experiences abroad?

Education Applied Research

1. Student mobility (in/out

2. Researcher mobility (in/out)

3. International agreements

4. International projects

5. …

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Honduras 2014, 2015

Guatemala 2015, 2017, 2018,

2019

1. Student mobility out

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5

1. Student mobility out

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Etiopia 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Uppsala University, Sweden 2019-’20

6

1. Researcher mobility in

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Dott. Frank van Steenbergen MetaMeta

Research (The Netherlands) Dott. Mohamed Ouessar

(Institute of Arid Regions,

Tunisia)

Dott. Shimbahri Mesfin Gebreslase (Univ.

of Mekelle, Ethiopia)

(2018, 2019)

Prof. Edoardo Daly (Monash

University, Australia)

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Burundi Etiopia

Bolivia Bolivia

2. Researcher mobility out

Experiences abroad (water sector)

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Mobility Year Country Activities

Students OUT 2014- 2019 Honduras (6) Guatemala (6), Nicaragua (2) Ethiopia (10) Bolivia (2) Mozambico (2) Brazil (1) Tanzania (1) Spain (1)

Traineeship/thesis Field Data collection

Students IN 2018-2019 Brazil (1) Ethiopia (1) Luxemburg (1)

Resarch Paper writing Project writing

Reserarcher OUT

2016-2019 Sudan (1) Burundi (1) Birmania (1) Tunisia (1) Guatemala (4)

Field activity Data collection Education Project writing

Researcher IN

2017-2019 Ethiopia (2) Tunisia (2) The Netherlands (1) Switzerland (2) Australia (1) Germany (1) Svezia (1), Brazil (3)

Research Paper writing Project writing Seminar International agreement signing

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2. Where ?

Cooperation projects:

Water resources managament

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On-going or finished About to start

2. Where ?

Water Harvesting Lab:

Collaboration

• Hashemite University (Jordan)

• Meta-Meta (the Netherlands)

• Rain Foundation (the Netherlands)

• Mekelle University (Ethiopia)

• Escuela Agricola Panamericana El Zamorano

(Honduras)

• Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (Brazil)

• Cactus NGO (Brazil)

• Embrapa (Brazil)

• UNESCO-IHE (the Netherlands)

• ICU – Istituto per la Cooperazione Universitaria (Italy)

• Istituto de capacitacion del Oriente (Bolivia)

• AICS, sede di Firenze (Italy)

• CEFA (Italy)

• Stockholm Resilience Center (Sweden)

• Uppsala University (Sweden)

• Center for Debelopment and Environment CDE

University of Bern (Switzerland)

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2. Where ?

• Bottom up: the project proposal comes from a real need of the population, identified through a participatory approach

Cooperation to development

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3. For what ?

Local stakeholders involvement: for planning, design and implementation ensuring the success of the project

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3. For what ?

Training on the job: construction sites by beneficiaries

Appropriate technology: effectiveness, repeatability and sustainability (social, environmental and economic) of the use of technology

Cooperation to development

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4. Which outcomes ?

"Abroad" training activities represent:

Experiences during the university career as a student

fundamental and unrepeatable

• see other university realities • acquisition of skills • first window on work activity • human growth • establish friendship / collaboration relationships

Ensuring

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Topic Location Period abroad Remarks

Water harvesting assessment in

Nepal

Italy – Nepal 2-3 months

from April 2020

Possibility of field

missions

FUNDS AVAILABLE from

IRHA (Switzwerland)

The candidate will be involved in: • GIS analysis, participative mapping

• Diagnostic analysis of local food systems

• Water harvesting systems design

• Retention and groundwater recharge

Tesi disponibili Nepal

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Topic Location Period abroad Remarks

Development of low-cost EMAS

pump for Mozambique

Rooftop water harvesting

Italy –

Mozambique

2-3 months

from April 2020

Possibility of field

missions

The candidate will be involved in the design

and testing of low-cost hand pumps to be

used in the project “Quelimane Agricola” in

Mozambique (end 2021)

No personal funds

Tesi disponibili Mozambique

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Topic Location Period abroad Remarks

Water/Land resource/risk

management using geospatial data

and models

Firenze,

Perugia (Italy)

4 months, any time Managed in cooperation with

WARREDOC – University for Foreign

Students of Perugia.

Good level of GIS skills is required

Water balance and flow partitioning in SWAT model

Available thesis

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Topic Location Period abroad Remarks

Modelling of ephemeral rivers and

water harvesting systems in Tunisia

using SWAT

Italy - Tunisia 4-6 months

March 2020

September 2020

Possibility of field

missions

In cooperation with IRA Medenine

(Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture),

Tunisia

No personal funds

Tunisia

Available thesis

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Topic Location Period abroad Remarks

Modelling of ephemeral rivers and

water harvesting systems in Ethiopia

using SWAT

Italy -

Ethiopia

1-2 months in 2020 -

Possibility of field

missions

In cooperation with Mekelle University

Ethiopia.

No personal funds

Available thesis

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Thesis

Participatory Approach for Improvements in Spate Irrigation Systems, Giulio Castelli, 2014 (Etiopia)

Identifying suitable sites for underground dams using GIS technology: a case study in North-East Brazil, Beatrice Laurita, 2016.

Integration of GIS techniques with local knowledge in selection of suitable sites for sand dam construction: a case study of Kitui east sub-county, Kenya, Samuel Mburu, 2016.

Impacts of rainwater harvesting and rainwater management on upstream – downstream agricultural ecosystem services in two catchments of Southern Tigray, Ethiopia, Andrea Minelli, 2017

Impact of rain water management and soil and water conservation interventions on the hydrology of Flood Based Farming system - a case in Guguf Sub –Watershed in RayaValley, Tigray (Ethiopia), Meron Lakew Tefera, 2017

DROUGHT RISK ASSESSMENT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE PREPAREDNESS USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS: A CASE STUDY OF LOWER NYANDO RIVER BASIN, Dorrant Odhiambo Juma, 2017 (Kenya)

Integrated analysis of environmental hazard in “Valles Cruceños” region, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia, Francesco Cantini, 2019

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Elena Bresci

elena.bresci@unifi.it

https://www.dagri.unifi.it/vp-261-wh-lab.html

Facebook: Water Harvesting Lab - UNIFI

THANKS