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