it was the ideal platform for us. However, our funding meant that we needed to put a hybrid legal framework in place – part Dutch, part UN. It took four years to get everyone to agree to that.” Were you personally involved in the negotiations? “I remember going to UNESCO headquarters in Paris several times to explain our position, but Wim Van Vierssen, the rector at the time, did most of the legwork. I can safely say that 80% the transition to UNESCO was his doing – and he deserves a statue for what he achieved.” Has the transition to UNESCO lived up to your expectations? “The thinking behind the transition was, and remains, rock-solid. It greatly strengthened our international image: what had been a Dutch institute with an international reputation became an international institute with strong ties with the Dutch water sector. But the transition did not immediately open up fresh sources of much-needed funds for us. In retrospect, it was probably rather naive on our part to assume that it would. Again, these things take time. We had to strengthen our fundraising skills and build relationships with potential donors. I suspect that if you asked the rector (András Szöllösi-Nagy, ed.), he’d tell you that the transition is now beginning to have an effect on funding, too. “I feel it is very important that the Institute should remain demand-driven” Who, in your view, are the core clients that UNESCO-IHE should focus on? “I feel it is very important that the Institute should remain ‘demand-driven’. That is to say, the needs of the students should always come first. They need to acquire new skills and know-how that they can readily apply back home, and are enthusiastic about. That will ultimately determine the success of UNESCO-IHE. Governments or organizations such as the African Development Bank will be clients in the sense that they come up with proposals and requests. But it is crucial to build a solid understanding of the underlying reality on the ground.” How do you feel about the Global Campus as an attempt to significantly increase the impact of the institute? “While it is important for students to spend at least some time physically together, as they do while in Delft, the strategy for much of my time on the board has always been to optimize the operation in Delft and expand internationally through satellite organizations, joint programmes on the spot and distance learning. I feel UNESCO-IHE is on the right track, strategically.” What advice would you like to give to the Institute for the coming decade? “I don’t feel I’m in a position to make suggestions, also because my focus most recently has been on governance rather than content issues, particularly since the death of our former chairman, Henk Vonhoff (in July 2010, ed.). But I would like to urge the Institute to remain very conscious of the fact that its raison d’être is the impact it has in the field; the interests of the Institute itself should never feature too prominently in considerations. UNESCO-IHE is special because it needs to produce credible science with an above-average emphasis, for an academic institution, on knowledge that can be applied in the field. There’s always a risk of becoming detached from the field. But I am confident that UNESCO-IHE’s dependence on project-related funding will act as a positive compulsion in this respect: financiers will want to see that their projects deliver value for money.” How would you characterize UNESCO-IHE’s development during your 15 years on the board? “I’ve worked with four rectors during my time on the board, each representing a distinct phase in the Institute’s 6 © Staatsbosbeheer
COLUMN Can research promote development cooperation in river basins? As world population continues to soar and climate-related natural disasters become more frequent, countries around the globe are facing critical challenges to satisfy escalating demands for food and energy, and to maintain sustainable environments. Many river basins in the world are already ‘closed, as all the water supplies are consumed before the rivers reach the oceans. Most river basins, transboundary and otherwise, are managed unilaterally, missing major opportunities for regional cooperation and losing immense potential benefits arising from alliances and development cooperation. development. Wil Seegeren, who was rector when I joined the board, was a builder and driver of tremendous growth – up to the point where the Institute was bursting at the seams. His successor, Wim van Vierssen, consolidated that growth, strengthening planning and control while also conceiving and ‘selling’ the concept for UNESCO-IHE. Richard Meganck, the first rector to come in via UNESCO, made the transition stick and gave it wider prominence. Now, under András, UNESCO-IHE will be reaping the benefits. All in all, quality has improved, the approach has become more demand-driven, and there has been a decisive push to build broader alliances and programmes as a player in a global network.” Can research promote development cooperation in river basins? This question is fundamental to the paradigm shift from tension and missed opportunities to cooperation and increased benefits. Scientific research in river basins would uncover opportunities to increase benefits from a water resources system that may otherwise remain unseen by individual riparians and local water sector organizations. With over 50 years experience in capacity building in an international context, UNESCO-IHE is uniquely placed to play a fundamental role on water management research on large river basins. PERSONALIA Chris Kalden was born in 1948 in Culemborg, the Netherlands. After graduating in veterinary medicine from Utrecht University, he joined a regional NGO umbrella organization and later became its general manager. In 1982, he joined the Dutch civil service for a career spanning 25 years, first in land and nature management, subsequently in HRM and finance, and ultimately as Secretary-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. In 2007, he was appointed general manager of the Dutch State Forestry Service, which manages 250,000 hectares of nature reserves across the Netherlands. Chris Kalden is married and has two children. He lives in Gouda, a small town in the southwest of the Netherlands. “I’m an IHE alumni who graduated in 1967,” the late Mr. Meki Bekhet proclaimed proudly. Mr. Bekhet was a senior Sudanese official who attended the meeting of the Blue Nile Hydrosolidarity research project organized by UNESCO-IHE in Khartoum in February 2011. The pride he expressed at being a member of the big IHE family and participating in the research team together with fellow researchers from Ethiopia and the Netherlands is reflected among many alumni. The healthy research environment based on mutual trust that the Institute provides is a pre-requisite for plausible research products, with better chances for buy-in. The international environment of UNESCO-IHE is a fertile environment for building trust among riparian participants, not only because they study or work together, but more importantly because they produce credible knowledge on transboundary water issues generated through joint research work. It is impossible to produce such knowledge otherwise, given the difficulty of data sharing and mistrust among riparian researchers. The same holds true for other river basins, including the Nile, the Mekong, the Indus, and many others. UNESCO-IHE has over 150 MSc students, over 100 PhD researchers from all over the world, and credible scientific staff specialized in waterrelated fields. Working in conjunction with local partners and relying on this large pool of dedicated water experts, the Institute has a great potential to carry out scientific research that will promote development cooperation in large river basins, leading to enormous cooperation benefits. This aim can best be achieved through effective project design, with equal opportunities for all, and with consistent engagement with local stakeholders. Yasir Mohamed Associate Professor of Water Resources Management 7 7