Watershed and River Basin Management is a 3-week basic course in watershed and river basin management focussed on tropical regions. It provides a theoretical background and develops practical skills of participants for the management of watersheds - taking into account developmental, food, environmental and institutional aspects and placing this in the context of Integral River Basin Management.

Emphasis is placed on the role of water to sustain agricultural, soil and water management within the context of rural landscapes. However, the course takes an integrated approach to watershed management, and will address issues regarding catchment conservation, water for domestic purposes and water management for ecosystem services and functions, at a watershed scale.

Learning objectives

Upon the successful completion of the course the participant will be able to:

describe and assess the main natural and anthropogenic interactions at a watershed scale; and how they can be aggregated to rive basin scale;
describe the role of water in sustaining different land uses, including ecosystems;
be familiar with watershed planning and management approaches, specifically in terms of soil and water management;
explain temporal and spatial scales issues in hydrology;
be familiar with economic instruments used for water management at watershed and river basin scales.

Target group

The course is most suited to top and mid-level decision-makers, technical experts and professional trainers and researchers with a background in water management, environmental management or watershed management.

Course content

The module will be based primarily on lectures, group discussion and a role play. The lectures serve to attain the learning objectives as stated above. The role play (ShaRiva) serves to practice the material taught. Students will work on individual assignments on different topics. Separate sessions for the short course participants will be organized, which will provide them an opportunity to discuss their work related problems with experts in UNESCO-IHE, A 1-day fieldtrip will be organised to a relevant institution in the field of river basin management. It serves to illustrate a Dutch example of integrated water watershed at hydrological boundaries.

Examination

It is possible to take part in the examination of this short course. If you obtain a passing mark for this examination and return to UNESCO-IHE within four years after completion of the short course to follow a full MSc programme, you will receive exemption for this short course/module. The costs for this exam are €250 extra and should be borne by yourself. Taking part in the examination is not compulsory.