Research and Education at UNESCO-IHE – What could be · PDF fileResearch and Education...
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Research and Education at UNESCO-IHE – What could be the linkage to GWSP?
Stefan Uhlenbrook Professor of Hydrology, Department for Water Engineering,
UNESCO-IHE, Delft, The Netherlands
Staff and Outputs 2008• 160 Staff • 250 Guest Faculty
• 4 Academic Programmes / 14 specializations (18+ months programme):– Water Sciences and Engineering– Environmental Sciences– Municipal Water and Infrastructure– Water Management
• >100 PhD fellows (4+ years programme)• 2 x 200 MSc participants • >400 Short Course participants annually
• >200 Publications / year• >100 Projects / year
International Masters of Science Programmes
Water Management
Water Science & Engineering
Environmental Science
Municipal Water & Infrastructure
Water Resources Management
Water Services Management
Water Conflict Management
Water Quality Management
Hydraulic Engineering- Coastal Eng. and Port Develop.
Hydraulic Engineering- Land and Water Development
Hydraulic Engineering and River Basin Development
Hydroinformatics
Hydrology and Water Resources
Environmental Science and Technology
Environmental Planning and Management
Limnology and Wetland Ecosystems
Water Quality Management
Water Supply Engineering
Sanitary Engineering
Integrated Urban Management
Alumni community: 14,600 alumni in 162 Countries
99% return to their home
country
85% still active 25
years after graduation
UNESCO-IHE Alumni Community
0 - 50 51-150 151-300 301-500 501-850 851-1200
Regional Distribution of MSc Participants 2005
AfricaAsiaLatin AmericaMiddle EastOthers
Africa34,8%
Asia 42,6%
Latin America & Caribbean 10,2%
Middle East 8,9%
Others 3,5%
Partnerships & Networks
Development from (pure) Education Institute to a Knowledge Institute
• After 52 years• After more than 14,600 alumni• >100 PhD candidates registered in 2009
Increased importance of research!
Knowledge Field: Water and the Aquatic Environment
• Natural science to understand processes that are inherent in the bio-physical environment as well as the consequences of interventions
• Engineering and technological solutions to manage local conditions in sustainable ways for humans and ecosystems
• Socio-economics related to the sustainability of the environment as a consequence of human activities
Relevant disciplines:• Natural science: Earth and life sciences,
physics and mathematics• Engineering and technology: Civil engineering,
agricultural engineering and informatics• Social sciences: Policy, law, management and
administration
Research Strategy Relevant
Demand-driven
Sustainable
Strategic
Multidisciplinary
Cross-boundary
Solution-oriented
Research LinesHWR core
1. Impact of global changes on hydrological processes– Climate change and other global changes– Process studies (combined hydrometric, geophysical and tracer
studies) and process-based models – Plot scale to larger river basin scale in different hydro-climatic regions
2. Physical and biogeochemical processes of groundwater systems– Impacts of quantitative groundwater hydrology (i.e. groundwater
dynamics, flow pathways, residence times) on water quality– Fate and transport of bio-colloids (i.e. viruses, bacteria) – State of the groundwater systems (i.e. observations and monitoring
networks)– Laboratory research and real-world case studies
EXAMPLE – ONE (NWO-WOTRO funded)
In Search of Sustainable Catchments and Basin-wide Solidarities -
Transboundary Water Management of the Blue Nile River Basin
Problem Analysis – A Participative Approach …
Can positive externalities of sustainable land use practices of upstream catchment areas form a foundation for sustainable and integrated basin management?
1. What are the agronomic and hydrological impacts of improved farming practices along the slopes of Choke Mountain? (Post-doc)
2. What are the hydrological impacts (i.e. rain water partitioning, water and sediment fluxes) at basin scale of improved farming practices, reforestation and biodiversity conservation upstream? (PhD 1 and 2)
3. What methodologies can appropriately value the direct and indirect costs and benefits due to the environmental impacts identified by projects 1 and 2, both upstream and downstream? (PhD 3)
Research Questions Hydrosolidarity (1/2)
Can positive externalities of sustainable land use practices of upstream catchment areas form a foundation for sustainable and integrated basin management?
4. How can the externalities of investments in sustainable practices upstream form a foundation for integrated catchment and basin management and be institutionalised? (PhD 4)
5. What is the gendered nature of land and water management in the Choke Mountains, and can this explain current land use practices? (PhD 5)
6. What are the driving forces behind long-term land use change, and what does this imply for the sustainability of the natural resource-based livelihoods in the Choke mountains? (PhD 6)
Research Questions Hydrosolidarity (2/2)
EXAMPLE – TWO (DGIS funded)
Integrated approaches and strategies to address the Sanitation Crisis in Unsewered Slum Areas in African
mega-cities
The following pictures and figures were provided by R.N. Kulabako and J.W. Foppen (2008)
Stone pitched Nsooba channel- receives storm water, sewage as well as solid waste (inset)
How to improve sanitation in urban slums?
1. To implement low cost integrated sustainable technical sanitation solutions to provide excreta management, and grey water management to unsewered densely populated slums;
2. To analyse the impact of entire urban slum catchments of Kampala, with and without sustainable ecological sanitation, on groundwater and surface water quantities and quality, and to determine contaminant mass fluxes; and
3. To identify financial, institutional, and sociological mechanismsor boundary conditions for successful large scale implementation of ecosan solutions in urban slums.
Research Question and Main Objectives
Concluding Remarks: UNESCO-IHE and GWSP
• Better understanding of processes and systems for sustainable solutions in water management (interdisciplinary, complex, and often transboundary …)
• Matching interests of demand-side and supply-side• Science to make a difference• Research and capacity building are ‘twins’• GWSP linkages?
– Hub for training and outreach activities (summer courses, MSc programmes etc.)
– Contributions to science activities, e.g. validation sites as Nile, Mekong, Incomati, Pangani, …
– Contributions to Integration and policy development?
Water Security
• Balance between water availability, demand and quality
• Protection against floods and droughts• Water security / food security / energy security• Engineering aspects of water resources• Increase productivity and resilience of farming
systems to climate change and other global changes
Environmental Integrity• Balancing human development
and the quality of the natural resources
• Pollution prevention and control
• Sustainable development and use of freshwater ecosystems
• Environmental water allocation (incl. bio-physical and socio-economic dimensions),
• Payment for environmental services, Environmental flows
Urbanization• Enormous pressures on local
governments for expanding and modernisation of services andinfrastructure
related to water supply, treatment and distribution
wastewater collection, treatment and re-use
• Safe water supply and sanitation in urban and peri-urban areas (incl. solutions for the urban poor pop.)
• Water demand management, incl. innovative financing
• Innovative, sustainable technology for water supply and sanitation, incl. ecological sanitation
Water Governance
• Focus on decision processes in water resources management
• Adequate and innovative institutional frameworks at local / watershed / river basin / global scale
• Enhance accountability and public participation• Making catchment organisations more effective in
allocating water• Mediating water conflicts (PCCP)
Information and Communication
Systems• Explores the opportunities of
modern ICT for: monitoring and acquiring data, computer-based modelling and DSS knowledge-based systems for IWRM
• Scenario analysis, risk management• Capacity enhancement approaches / tools applicable to
water institutions in developing world• Tools for knowledge generation and sharing