ACADEMIC CURRICULUM ON ADAPTIVE RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT Online Modules for Instructors of Water/Environmental/Resource Management
(Flyer downloadable below) Curriculum News
NeWater - UNU Water Decade Programme
announce
IHDP 2008 International Human Dimensions Workshop
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
IN ADAPTIVE WATER MANAGEMENT
New Delhi, India
October 12 -15, 2008
more information... |
Aim and Audience
A curriculum in adaptive river basin management will soon be available for teaching at universities at the Master’s and PhD levels. The teaching materials will be published as downloadable modules on the internet for interested instructors of Environmental and Resources Management, Hydrology, Public Policy, and other fields that may include studies in water resources management. The broader learning goals of this curriculum are to teach students about: - Water issues in the context of global change
- Adaptive management concepts
- Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM): what it is and how it is practiced
- The role of adaptive management in IWRM
- Making the transition to adaptive river basin management
Although all teaching materials will be available in English only, the curriculum will be geared as much as possible to an international audience, with examples drawn from cases in variety of countries. It is however acknowledged that teaching approaches vary among countries and regions, and that instructors may have to adapt the curriculum based on their own requirements and preferences. The Curriculum
The curriculum is developed as part of the Training and Education activities under the NeWater Project (New Approaches to Uncertainty in Water Management) funded by the European Commission. The NeWater project has, among other goals, an explicit aim to provide an effective outreach mechanism for scientific results, methodologies and tools to various levels of stakeholders in the water sector, including education at the university level, policy, and water management practitioners. With funding the NeWater project, the curriculum is being implemented by the Institute of Environmental Systems Research, University of Osnabrück (www.usf.uos.de), Alterra at Wageningen University and Research Centre (http://www.alterra.wur.nl/NL/) and the Global Water System Project (www.gwsp.org) The curriculum will be made available on the NeWater website and specifically in the currently-under-development NeWater Portal. The Modules
Modules include: - lectures with accompanying script and reference to examples from relevant case studies
- discussion questions
- exercises or projects (primarily group projects)
- supporting literature (background reading)
- relevant links to electronic databases, atlases, glossaries, etc.
Examples from NeWater case studies including the Rhine, Guadiana, Tisza, Nile, Orange and Amu Darya river basins will help illustrate approaches and areas of application. The modules are drawn primarfrom the teaching materials prepared for the NeWater summer schools (http://www.newater.info/everyone/2153). Module 1: Global change and Water Resources
Global water cycle
Water, climate and development
Module 2: Introduction to Adaptive Management and IWRM
Basic concepts of Adaptive Management and Integrated Water Resources Management
Resilience and adaptive capacity
Water policy mechanisms
Uncertainty (analysis) and its role in water management Module 3: Adaptive Management Tools and Methods
Vulnerability assessment
Governance regimes
Participatory processes
Group model building
Performance indicators
Information gathering and monitoring systems
Integrating economics in Adaptive Management
Role of transitions management Module 4: Managing Transitions to Adaptive Management (available Spring 2008)
Socio-economic barriers to change
Institutional barriers to change
Learning processes in facilitating change
Managing change for effective river basin management
Role of European Water Framework Directive The modules developed will be tested on academics with some experience in teaching adaptive management, as well as students of related fields. Contact For more information: Caroline van Bers (cvbers[@]usf.uos.de)
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