Service oriented management of irrigation systems is gaining ever-increasing attention globally due to greater emphasis on improving the performance of irrigation systems while making them ecologically and socio-economically sustainable. The key to achieve this largely lies in effective operation, maintenance and management of irrigation systems by adopting a user-centered and user-driven approach.

Learning objectives

The course has the objective to educate the participants about:

Basic principles, significance, and concepts of Service Oriented Management of Irrigation Systems ;
Key activities and processes associated with service oriented management in real field situations; and
Physical, economic, and institutional requisites for service oriented management.

As the expected outcomes, the participants will learn and understand how to:

formulate objectives for irrigation, define different levels of water delivery service, design water delivery systems, and estimate related costs;
identify physical, economic, and institutional constraints and gaps to instigate appropriate measures;
prepare a service agreement and design an action plan for its implementation; and
monitor and evaluate the performance of the irrigation systems.

Target group

This course is designed for mid-level professionals and water managers who are engaged or aspire to engage into sustainable, service-oriented, and participatory management of irrigation systems. It encompasses both surface and groundwater schemes. Participants may be from organizations, regional or national governments, involved in the different aspects of irrigation system management, non-governmental organizations, companies or universities and who do not have the time and other resources to take a course that lasts several weeks abroad.

Course structure

The SOMIS online course is offered in full distance learning mode. Participants complete the course in a period of four months with a workload of 140 hours (8 hours a week on average). The course is sub-divided into 8 subjects and a paper assignment. Each subject starts and ends on a specified day and takes 2 weeks. Within this period, the participant is free to study in his or her own time. The web-based I-Learning Environment is used for downloading training material and communication. Questions can be posted on the ‘Ask-Lecturer’ page or on the discussion forum eliciting responses from fellow participants. Each subject ends with either a tutor or discussions assignment for which participants use their newly acquired knowledge and interact with the lecturer and the other participants. The course will be evaluated based on these assignments and the final paper. After successful completion, participants will receive a certificate jointly issued by UNESCO-IHE and Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand.

Course content

Subject	Key questions	Duration
1. Introduction to SOMIS Course	Who are my lecturers and fellow participants?Why this course and how is it organized?	2 weeks
2. Relevance, significance and opportunities	What is current situation of irrigation development?What are the latest issues related to SOMIS?What are its significance and related opportunities in the present context?	2 weeks
3. Principles and concepts	What are the basic principles and underlying concepts?	2 weeks
4. Requisites and Constraints	What are socioeconomic and institutional dimensions related to SOMIS?How can we instigate appropriate measures?	2 weeks
5. Monitoring & evaluation and benchmarking	How can we monitor and evaluate performance of irrigation systems in the context of SOMIS?How can we select most suitable indicators for performance monitoring and evaluation?How can the benchmarking of irrigation systems contribute to service improvement?	2 weeks
6. Operationalization of SOMIS	What are the key activities and processes related to SOMIS?How can we prepare the service agreement and action plans?	2 weeks
7. Case studies	What can we learn from case studies?	2 weeks
8. Service agreement for SOMIS	How can we develop a service agreement for SOMIS?	2 weeks

This online course provides, in addition to updated course literature, access to: the views of many experts through about 2 hours of video interviews; an extensive and regularly updated bibliography on participatory irrigation management with key texts; and explanation of the key terms commonly used in this field with links to glossaries developed by International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, Food and Agriculture Organization, etc. Besides, it enables analytical review of several case studies.

Partners

The course is jointly offered by UNESCO-IHE and Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand.

Additional information

For more information about the module contents, please contact the course coordinator Krishna Prasad or one of the following persons: Roberto Clemente, AIT (clemente@ait.ac.th); Sylvain Perret, AIT/CIRAD (sylvain@ait.ac.th, sylvain.perret@cirad.fr)