GLOBAL NEWS DELFT | AUGUST IGRAC MOVES IN 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.” ENERGY | SEPTEMBER AGREEMENT SIGNED WITH INTERNATIONAL HYDROPOWER ASSOCIATION TAIWAN | SEPTEMBER EARTH WATER CHINA TOUR 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 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 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). 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 DEVELOPING CAPACITIES OF WATER UTILITIES IN EAST AFRICA 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 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 ILLINOIS | NOVEMBER ROTARY GRANTS MASTERS OF SCIENCE SCHOLARSHIPS 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 have this new cooperation with Rotary. The Rotary 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. www.rotary.org/mediacenter 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 z.vojinovic@unesco-ihe.org
m.marence@unesco-ihe.org, http://www.un-igrac.org, patrick@earthwater.nl, j.luijendijk@unesco-ihe.org, http://www.earth-water.org, m.blokland@unesco-ihe.org, http://www.nuffic.nl/nederlandse-organisaties/services/capacity-building/niche/projects/vietnam/niche-vnm-104/, w.douven@unesco-ihe.org, http://www.rotary.org/mediacenter, http://www.unesco-ihe.org/news, z.vojinovic@unesco-ihe.org,
UPDATE-DECEMBER-2011 main