Water security is an emerging term which is fundamentally transformingglobal freshwater resource management. Finding the right balance betweenthe various water needs requires committed teamwork. UNESCO-IHE staff,PhD fellows and MSc students talk about their projects and experiences.
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Water Security - A Matter of  Teamwork
Nepal Earthquake Aftermath: effectiveness of emergencyWASH response activities
‘The beauty of Myanmar is  that people are open-minded  and eager to learn’
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7 years
A partnership agreement was signed in November 2011, with the aim of supporting water operations in ADB's Developing Member Countries and with ADB staff providing guidance on project preparation and implementation. Additional focus areas include: developing and implementing education, training and capacity development to support knowledge networking programmes and strengthening regional networking.
31 projects
The cooperation has resulted in 31 projects, involving 19 countries. 7 million USD was made available from the ADB-administered Netherlands Trust Fund under the Water Financing Partnership Facility. Some major ADB Knowledge partnership projects, with IHE Delft engagement, are: Flood Risk Assessment of Historic Bangkok (UNESCO World heritage site Ayutthaya), MARE-Asia (Green cities), Coral Reef Protected Coastline and SLaNT (Sri Lanka North coast sediment Transport).
Company Profile
PHOTO: Fact 2030: Opening session of Climate Action Summit 2016, by United Nations Photo 
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8 priority themes
7 learning weeks
ADB and IHE Delft identified 8 priority themes: 1. Government-Corporate-Society partnerships 2. Corporatization of utilities 3. Partnerships with knowledge centers 4. Water and climate change 5. Water and food security 6. Water, environment, and ecosystems 7. Sanitation and wastewater management 8. Water governance In the second phase, emphasis was given to water productivity and water accounting. Water Accounting & Productivity studies were done in Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Additional Water Accounting studies were done in Cambodia and India, while an additional Water Productivity study was conducted in Pakistan.
IHE DELFT is based in Delft, the Netherlands and carries out educational, research and capacity development activities in the broad fields of water engineering, water management, environment, sanitation and governance. ​ IHE DELFT is the largest international graduate education institute in the field of water. The Institute offers 4 MSc programmes, various short and online courses and a PhD programme in collaboration with partner universities. Since 1957, the Institute has provided graduate education to more than 15,000 practicing water professionals, as well as thousands of short course participants from 162 countries.​ www.un-ihe.org 
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IHE Delft and ADB have organized 5 editions of the Asia-Netherlands Water Learning Week, with the last 2 events organized by the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) and hosted by IHE Delft. In total, over 280 Asian water leaders compared experiences with colleagues in the Netherlands to make smart choices for increased water security in their countries. The main themes of these events were related to green growth, water security, climate change and flood resilience.
PHOTO: Asia agriculture landscape
Editor in chiefEmma Meurs Editorial coordinatorRachelle Dwarka​Texts IHE DELFT Communication Office  ​Feature article by​Heather Montague, freelance editor and writerwww.msqrdservices.com​ContributorsRosh RanasingheDano RoelvinkAbdi Mehvar Trang Duong Mishka StuipClaire FurlongMick van der WegenHuub SavernijeKidist Ketema BekeleEndFragment
PHOTO: Asian women working on a boat
PHOTO: ADB - MARE project
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Knowledge Partnership with the Asian Development Bank
PHOTO: Presentation at the Asia -Netherlands Water Learning Week
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UPDATE is IHE DELFT’s new look online magazine, filled with a variety of articles, interviews, facts and figures about water related topics and inspirational people in the sector. UPDATE is published bi-annually. Please share the magazine or individual articles via social media with your friends and colleagues.
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Projects
Learning Weeks
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Priority themes
PHOTO: Empty water cans in Asia
Answer: “IHE Delft was of tremendous value when I started up. I approached the alumni in the VIA Water countries and through them, the word was spread easily about this new opportunity. Also, two of the 60 projects are now being carried out by IHE Delft: one on fluoride contaminated groundwater and one on efficient and intelligent toilets (eSOS). Also, many of the Institute’s professors helped in screening proposals.”
“The ecosystem manages the water and is very much alive”
“IHE Delft interviewed Hubert Savenije, who has recently been awarded the IHE Delft Honorary Fellowship 2018. Dr. Savenije is an eminent water scientist who has conducted innovative research and educated a large number of students and PhD fellows in the field of hydrology and water management.”
Question 2: Which achievements in your career have made you feel the most proud?
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Question 4: You are still very active in the field of water. What are you currently working on?
Question 6: What do you hope to see IHE Delft doing in 5 years’ time?
Answer:  “The most important achievement is that we were the initiators of what is presently called WaterNet. Pieter van der Zaag and myself were the people who initiated it in 1995. WaterNet is a network of around 50 universities and partners in Southern and Eastern Africa, a project that transformed into a SADC-affiliated institution, which has made, and still is making, a significant and measurable impact. This is done through education (more than 500 Master graduates to date), policy forum (the annual WaterNet Symposium, every year since 2000), and research impact (630 articles published in special issues (from 2002-2018) of the journal Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, as proceedings of these symposia).”
Answer:  “We know now that the world often functions in surprisingly simple ways, but we do not know why. I research the ‘why’ question. The ecosystem is manipulating the environment to its favour. This happens at all scales: at the global climate scale, but also at smaller scale earth processes; this is what I am still working on with my PhD students. I just returned from the WaterNet conference in Zambia where 3 of my PhD students are doing research within this same theme. We try to understand better how the major tributaries of the Zambezi river function, and how this natural system organizes its behaviour.”
PHOTO: PHOTO: Hubert Savenije, former Vice Rector of IHE Delft and retired professor of Delft University of Technology
Answer: “I hope that IHE Delft continues to be what it is. The Institute is 61 years old and has proven that it plays a very important role in the world by building capacity. IHE Delft is different from all other institutions because it trains people to work in their own environment, with their own problems and data and they go back home better equipped. IHE Delft has to develop and address the main issues of the new times and I would say that the Institute should continue on the same route. There are so many people who wants to study in the Netherlands and in Delft and as long as IHE Delft offers the right kind of education and remains at the forefront of knowledge in the field of international development questions, they will remain competitive.”
Question 1: Can you tell us your most significant memories of your time at IHE Delft?
Q&A
Question 3: What are the most important discoveries you have made in your research throughout your career?
Answer: “I am a hydrologist, so I study the behaviour of water in the environment. In general, we deal with rainfall and how it goes back to the ocean and then cycles back to Earth. My most important realization is that the earth functions as a living organism and that its catchments, its rivers basins, organize themselves. Catchments should be approached as living organisms: they act as if they are alive. How water behaves in the environment is dominated by the ecosystem, which manages the water, and is very much alive. That living organism manipulates it in a way that its achieves optimality. This is my most important finding and I am still doing research on it. When you understand this, the world becomes simpler.”
Question 5: What advice would you give to young water professionals?
Answer:  “I would advise them go into the field and look how nature behaves. Because what I see a lot is that people look at their computer screen to see how nature behaves. When they look at the computer, they are looking at constructs that people have made. So other people have determined for you how nature functions and when you look at it, it all looks very realistic, and you believe that this is how the world functions. But that is not the case, there is so much else out there, which does not correspond with what we model. You can only understand this and make advances when you make your own observations and when you do measurements in the field, and become inspired by how nature works.”
Professor Hubert Savenije
Question 7: In what way has IHE Delft supported the programme?
Answer:  “When I started at IHE Delft in 1990 it was very different from now. The new building was not there, all the activities were in the old building, we had one staff room where we had lunch together and it was like a small family. It was under the leadership of Professor Segeren and my most important memory was that everything was possible. Prof. Segeren stimulated new opportunities and developments, including, for me, the opportunity to start a completely new programme in Water Resources Management, which did not exist before. IHE Delft played a key role in the first Sustainable Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and we worked on new concepts in the field of Water and Sustainable Development.”
FORMER VICE RECTOR OF IHE DELFT AND RETIRED PROFESSOR OF DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
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The coastal environment is fascinating and beautiful but population growth, industry and climate change will rigorously impact coasts worldwide. My to do list focuses on research and education to better understand and tackle these threats and to develop best management strategies to sustain essential coastal zone values and functions.
The developing world is open
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“To manage our estuaries and coasts in light of climate change, we need open source data and models.”
Mick van der Wegen, PhD, MSc
''Open boundaries, free connections, easy and open data access, open source models and research publication are vital for a society to develop. In San Francisco Bay I initiated the development of a community model on hydrodynamics, sediment transport and water quality, accessible to all parties interested. Any party can contribute to further and future development of the model (even beyond the running project), provided the results and data are made available to all. My do to list includes further stimulation to advance open and free communication in publications, models, data, and education via my own network of national and international partners.''
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ON MY TO DO LIST
“Well monitored areas, with reliable data, are a good source for validation of models that can be used in data scarce environments. Physics-based, numerical modeling provides an excellent tool to fill data gaps and assess impacts of changing forcing conditions, simple if possible but complex when needed. For example, I developed models and methodologies to reproduce the shape and level of mudflats in San Francisco Estuary, which have been well monitored over the past 150 years. On my to do list is to transfer the knowledge gained to address sea level rise impact in less monitored case studies in the Netherlands, Guyana, Bangladesh and China.”
PHOTO: Dr. Mick van der Wegen, Associate Professor of Estuarine Dynamics at IHE Delft
Knowledge of the past is not enough
Associate Professor of Estuarine Dynamics
''Online training methodologies will be key to further enhance flexible knowledge transfer in an international context.The (inter-) play between research and education is essential for academic studies. My research efforts show that the morphodynamic behaviour of intertidal mudflats in estuaries can be accurately predicted. I show these research results in class and let students play with the models so that they can apply the model for conditions in their home country. We discovered that the methodology for intertidal flats is well applicable to mudcoasts in Indonesia and Guyana. I further would like to develop teaching methodologies that stimulate this feedback between education and research.''
Best tools for data scarce environments
02 Working together with other labs
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Faecal sludge is the material that builds-up in on-site sanitation systems, such as pit latrines and septic tanks. Until recently little has been known about this material.
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03 Global Sanitation Graduate School
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Europe’s first faecal sludge laboratory
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RESEARCH & INNOVATION
01 Different parameters of faecal sludge
IHE Delft is working with other laboratories in the Global Partnership of Laboratories for Faecal Sludge Analysis. Unlike for wastewater, specialized laboratories for faecal sludge analysis are scarce. Due to the lack of standard methods for sampling and analysis of faecal sludge, standard methods from other fields, such as water, wastewater and soil science, are usually applied. The Partnership develops, documents and standardizes methods to analyze faecal sludge. Learn more about this here. The Partnership also delivers on-campus courses and training and aims to improve communication between sanitation practitioners, provide a comparative faecal sludge database, and improve confidence in the methods and obtained results.
Different parameters of faecal sludge
PHOTO: Faecal Sludge trucks empty contents in a pond near Kumais, Ghana. Copyright Linda Strande, EAWAG.
In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IHE Delft has launched a new Master of Science Programme in Sanitation. The Faecal Sludge Laboratory is used by sanitation professionals enrolled in the Master programme to enhance their skills in research and analysis which they take back to their home countries. The initiative has started the process of transferring new curricula and course materials on non-sewered sanitation to at least 30 universities in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Read more here.
Working together with other labs
PHOTO: Students working in the lab. Copyright IHE Delft
Global Sanitation Graduate School
IHE Delft’s faecal sludge laboratory was opened on World Toilet Day and is the first of its kind outside Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It will be used mainly to train people to analyze the chemical, physical and microbiological parameters and for capacity development in the on-site sanitation sector. To date little has been known about the composition of this material and there are no standardized tests. This information is critical when designing treatment or reuse strategies, and for ensuring safe reuse or disposal.
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PHOTO: Participants of the proposal preparation workshop for the Global Sanitation Graduate School. Copyright IHE Delft
PHOTO: Rotary sponsored students.
Organized by a group of IHE Delft post-docs, the aim of the 6-session lecture series in a local cafe, was to bring greater awareness about water issues to the broader Delft community. The following themes were discussed: the fascinating world of tap water; water and climate change; women and water; risk and disaster management and the final session of 2018 was on water and pollution.
PHOTO: Students performing dances and enjoying African Night.
PHOTO: Alumna Ms. Tatiana dos Santos Silva speaking at the Opening ceremony of the Academic Year 2018.
Opening Academic Year and Alumni Day 2018
African night
Dos Santos Silva awarded Alumni Award 2018
A vibrant and colourful display of music, song and dance, this year’s African night was a fantastic way to get to know more about the African culture. The variety of performances highlighted the rich range and diversity of backgrounds of our students.
Ms. Tatiana dos Santos Silva, from Brazil, was presented with the IHE Delft Alumni Award 2018. Tatiana is a co-founder of the non-governmental organization FA.VELA, that leads resilience and entrepreneurship projects in low income communities in Brazil. She is also a board member of the Water Youth Network. The award is given annually to an alumna/alumnus who has proven to be a role model for other water professionals.
On 18 October, 153 students from 57 countries were welcomed by the Rectorate and speakers at the official opening of the academic year 2018-2020. After Rector Eddy Moors opened the ceremony, Prof. Assela Pathirana discussed his own experience and lessons learned throughout his career. Then, Alumni Award winner Tatiana dos Santos Silva made a heartfelt speech about taking action and the power of the young water professionals’ voice.
PHOTO: Opening of the Academic Year and Alumni Day 2018
Dagje uit 2018
On Friday 14 September IHE Delft´s staff and PhD fellows joined Dagje Uit 2018 in Safaripark Beekse Bergen. They participated in several activities and had a lovely dinner and evening.
PHOTO: Ms. Nadezhda Zalivina talking about her research on ‘Nitrogen removal from side streams using algal anaerobic ammonium oxidation with ion exchange (ALGAMMIX)’.
PHOTO: Sustainable Development Goal 6
PhD Symposium on Nature for Water
IHE Delft worked on a new water indicator for SDG 6:
The 2018 UN Water theme 'Nature for Water' provided a platform for IHE Delft's PhD fellows to discuss possible nature based solutions for 21st century water challenges. Our PhD community and partner institutions shared and debated research innovations and limitations in 4 research sessions. This year's Best Poster Award was given to Ms. Nadezhda Zalivina for her research on ‘Nitrogen removal from side streams using algal anaerobic ammonium oxidation with ion exchange (ALGAMMIX)’.
PHOTO: Staff and PhD fellows joining Dagje Uit 2018 in Safaripark Beekse Bergen.
As a water education institute, IHE Delft took the lead in organising a brainstorming day with key capacity development experts, with a view towards formulating a new indicator that would measure capacity and could be piloted with a few Member States.
MEANWHILE IN DELFT
PHOTO: Screenshot from IHE Delft's new Education video.
Rotary Foundation water project & partnership workshop
PHOTO: Low-land hydropower, copyright: Deni Williams
New Education and Training Guide 2019
Lowland hydropower seminar
The ‘IHE Delft & Rotary Foundation water project and partnership’ workshop took place on 7 September 2018. This international event brought together people from various continents who are involved in water projects or have a particular interest in Water & Sanitation or Water & Peace. This workshop provided the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with IHE Delft scholars, professors, Rotary leaders and water experts from various countries.
PHOTO: Water on Tap
This guide will give you more insights into our MSc programmes, PhD programme, online and on-campus short courses, and the possibility to arrange tailor-made training specifically for individual or organizational needs.
The seminar addressed these theoretical questions: how to extract energy from water where the energy level is relatively low, how and how much energy could be extracted. Also information on new technologies, research results and developments in the field was shared. The solutions in the field of low head hydropower on rivers (head difference and kinetic energy) and in coastal areas (wave, tidal, and current) were also considered.
Water on Tap
COP24 in Katowice, Poland
go to event >
PHOTO: Opening Academic Year
PHOTO: United Nations General Assembly
DON’T MISS
This year’s theme is Changing Together, referring to the determination of all parties to fully implement the Paris Agreement.
22 OCTOBER 2018 - 1 FEBRUARY 2019
Science Communication Skills Water Cooperation and Diplomacy
2 - 14 DEC 2018
This is an online, self-directed course, with moderation and feedback provided by peers and experts in the online environment.
21 - 22 FEB 2019
go to event >
Water and Peace Seminar
The Water Diplomacy team at IHE Delft will organize the 2019 Water and Peace Seminar in The Hague, The Netherlands.
5th Arab Water Week 2019
3 - 7 MAR 2019
The Arab Water Week in Jordan aims to attract decision makers, water management practitioners, and professional organizations, both in the Arab region and internationally.
The theme of this 2019 edition of the World Water Day will be: ‘Leaving no- one behind’.
World Water Day 2019
22 MAR 2019
Graduation Day 2019
25 APR 2019
MSc participants from the academic year 2017-2019 will receive their diploma during the awarding ceremony at the historical Old Church in Delft.
Sustainable hydropower event
27 - 28 MAY 2019
2-day workshop on sustainable hydropower, based on the question whether hydropower can be sustainable at all, followed by discussion how this could be achieved.
This 4th edition will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, and aims to provide a platform for dialogue on multiple aspects of climate change adaptation.
29 - 31 MAY 2019
European Climate Change Adaptation conference (ECCA) 2019
16 - 20 JUN 2019
The 12th IWA Conference on Water Reclamation and Reuse will be held in Berlin, Germany, and brings together experts from research and development.
12th IWA Conference
25 - 30 AUG2019
SIWI World Water Week 2019
The 2019 edition of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden will address the theme “Water for society – Including all”.
36th IAHR World Congress
UNESCO-IHE and the Ministry Infrastructure  and Environment signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in April, marking a new step in their collaboration.
UNESCO-IHE staff and students celebrated the adoption of water-related Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations in September.
Professor Arthur Mynett, Head of Water Science and Engineering Department was the Local Organising Committee Chairman. Volunteers from UNESCO-IHE, headed by PhD fellow Veronica Minaya and the current president of YoungProfessional Network (YPN), dedicated themselves to ensure the smooth running of the congress. In addition to qualitypresentations and sessions, ample opportunities were provided to young professionals during the congress in the form of asoft-skills workshop, speed networking with industry partners, YPN corner and a technical tour with a dinner for socializing.For more information, visit the IAHR congress website.
UNESCO-IHE at World Water Forum and Week
Blue Day Celebrating a Global Goal on Water
The MOU provides a contribution for the coming four years in many areas, from delta technology to maritime technology, with a focus on putting knowledge and know-how on the market so it can be used to tackle global and local water problems.The activities UNESCO-IHE undertakes in the area of training, capacity building, research and knowledge sharing arefundamental. Minister Schultz: ‘I believe it is crucial that young people are fascinated by water and want to find solutions forwater issues in their country’. For more information, visit our website.
UNESCO-IHE was actively involved in the organization of the 36th  IAHR World Congress that was held in June in The Hague.
UNESCO-IHE was present with a visiting delegation at two important global water events:
Alumna Ms Iris Frida Josch from Argentina is the winner of the UNESCO-IHE Alumni Award 2015
The triennial World Water Forum, held this year in Daegu and Gyeongju, South Korea and the annual World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, presented the participants with an array of presentations and discussions on themes related to water anddevelopment. Highlights included active involvement in workshops and sessions by staff and students and the UNESCO-IHEalumni gathering which was held at both events.
A new batch of MSc students have started their study journey  at UNESCO-IHE in October. Good luck to all of you!
Ms Josch received the award on 15 October during the Opening of the Academic Year and Alumni Day ceremony. Though close to her well-deserved retirement, she has chosen to continue her work serving as leader of a team of engineers, architects,technicians and administrative staff, with the aim of developing more projects to improve water management in her country.The Alumni Award is given annually to an alumnus/alumna who has proven to be a role model for other water professionals, by showing an outstanding contribution to water management practices. For more information, visit our website.
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?
The students' arrival on 11 October started with a full week of introductory lectures and practical information sessions, as well as a cultural city tour through Delft. According to tradition, the opening ceremony of the new academic year was concluded by a reception where the new students could taste traditional Dutch food such as herring, bitterballen and stroopwafels. We willfollow 10 of them more closely by asking them to share their experiences at the beginning, half-way through and at the end ofthe MSc programme. Their stories will be shared on our website. Learn more about our educational programmes on our website.
Educational News
Cooperation Agreement: Ministry of Infrastructure
All staff and students wore blue clothes and were photographed in front of our building in Delft. Much of the Institute's work contributes to Goal 6 and related environmental goals, notably by educating water professionals, undertaking research anddeveloping innovative solutions to sanitation, environment and food security challenges. Up to the adoption date at the end ofSeptember, we published three background articles on our work related to the SDGs. Read the ‘UNESCO-IHE in action’ serieson our website.
Alumni Award Winner 2015
This Water and Finance event, hosted on 26 September by IHE Delft, brought together a number of people working in the financial sector with representatives from the water sector. The purpose was twofold: to gain a better understanding of each others’ perspective on risk, in relation to investing in water projects and to inform IHE Delft’s future curriculum on the topic. Read the outcomes here.
PHOTO: Copyright: Global Center on Adaptation
The Government of the Netherlands and the Global Center on Adaptation have formed the Global Commission on Adaptation. The Commission is led by Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Kristalina Georgieva, CEO, World Bank. IHE Delft is a founding partner of the Global Center on Adaptation and has seconded Professor Guy Alaerts as a part-time staff member.
Rectorate launches new strategy
The Rectorate of IHE Delft has developed a new strategy for the period 2018 to 2023. The focus will be even more on working in partnership, key to addressing today’s water challenges. Through our work we recognise that a fresh, interdisciplinary approach is needed and that our organization is in a prime position to contribute substantially to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. A summary of the strategy is available here.
PHOTO: Screenshot of IHE Delft's Education video
IHE Delft recently launched its new institutional and educational video. Have you already seen the ‘IHE Delft in a nutshell’ video? Or our video about studying at IHE Delft, where our students talk about their experiences? We hope this video inspires you to become part of the largest graduate water network in the world. Watch the two new videos on YouTube.
Water - the new gold: bridging the gap between the financial and water sectors
The Global Sanitation Graduate School
Looking back on Stockholm World Water Week
PHOTO: IHE Delft fieldtrip to Limburg, The Netherlands
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and IHE Delft have launched the Global Sanitation Graduate School, an initiative to transfer new curricula and course materials on non-sewered sanitation to at least 30 universities in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The agreement stimulates cooperation between universities and sanitation experts, and guarantees delivery of at least 1,000 well-educated sanitation experts.
PHOTO: Global Sanitation School group picture in front of IHE Delft.
PHOTO: IHE Delft at Stockholm World Water Week 2018
PHOTO: Financial graphic
We look back on a successful World Water Week 2018, the annual focal point for the world's water issues. IHE Delft co-organized 10 sessions, shared a booth with UNESCO-IHP and WWAP as part of the UNESCO water family and organized an alumni gathering. Two MSc students and one PhD Fellow actively participated in IHE Delft and Water Youth Network events. Read about their experiences as well as those of some of our alumni here.
New Commission on Climate Adaptation
New videos about IHE Delft and its education
BeforeCoastal floods are regarded as one of the most dangerous and harmful of all natural disasters. Rapid urbanisation in coastal areas, combined with climate change and poor governance, poses a great risk of devastation in coastal communities. In September 2017, Hurricane “Irma” destroyed a large portion of Sint Maarten and damaged other islands in the Caribbean Sea, leaving thousands homeless. Irma was one of the strongest category 5 hurricanes ever recorded in modern history, causing loss of life and enormous material damage. With the frequent presence of hurricanes, tropical storms, increase in frequency of high-intensity storms due to climate change and the inability of the existing stormwater system to cope with larger rainfall events, the situation is likely to become even more disastrous for the island of Sint Maarten if appropriate actions are not taken immediately.
AfterSince the storm, the government of Sint Maarten has engaged in a recovery and reconstruction programme based on the United Nation’s premise of building back better, which addresses restoration of infrastructure and revitalization of livelihood and economies, to make communities less vulnerable to future disasters and increase their resilience. To support this recovery programme, an international team of researchers from the European Commission funded PEARL project visited the Dutch part of the island on a fact- finding mission 5 months after the hurricane had struck. The team carried out workshops, interviews and household surveys, assessing hurricane warnings, evacuations, and awareness and perception of impacts and responses after the hurricane. They learned that there were improvements to be made in how warnings were issued, how evacuations were conducted, and how communities rebuilt after storms. The PEARL team also applied novel methodologies and tools such as a vulnerability index method, a risk root cause analysis method, agent-based modelling tools and traffic model to assess hazard and risk, to support the reconstruction and recovery, and make Sint Maarten more resilient. IHE Delft continues to support the Dutch and Sint Maarten government to prepare the island better for extreme weather and tsunamis in the future.
Extreme weather events and tsunamis are posing serious threats to people living on islands and near coasts. An international team of researchers has developed adaptive risk management strategies for coastal communities.
PHOTO: St.Martin Anse Marcel September 2017 Hurricane Irma category 5 storm, close up view of damages to a resort on Ance Marcel
BEFORE & AFTER
READ ARTICLE
Pearl video​
Improving safety of people living in coastal communities
Discovering my true potential“Going to IHE Delft opened my eyes: it’s a place where I discovered my true potential. I was challenged to be the best I can possibly be at that time. Not only did I learn theory from books, I also learned a lot about water issues from staff and students, from different perspectives. I had a good time at IHE Delft and I have made friends for life. When I face difficulties in work, or just to seek advice, I contact my friends and my lecturers at IHE Delft.” “My studies had a direct impact on my career. For the water governance module I had to write an essay on the shift in water governance based on a case study and literature review. I wrote an essay about the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Awash River Basin, Ethiopia. I was able to critically analyze a shift in governance related to water resources and I compared different scientific papers, case studies and theories on the dynamics and political nature of water governance.”
Kidist Ketema Bekele works for the Zuiderzeeland Regional Water Authority in partnership with the Water Governance Implementation Program of the Dutch Water authority. Through the Young Expert Program (YEP), she works on optimizing water use in the Awash River Basin in Ethiopia.
Kidist Bekele at Stockholm World Water Week 2018 introducing the Blue Deal.
“The Awash River Basin is facing several challenges:water quantity problems (droughts as well as floods), water quality problems (pollution and destruction of ecosystems) and security concerns (conflicts over water resources). However, these are not adequately addressed by water management institutions. The Dutch water authorities and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands are joining forces to improve the situation. This joint programme is known as the Blue Deal. With my colleagues I developed a programme and introduced it during Stockholm World Water Week. The Blue Deal gives the Ethiopian government an opportunity to improve its water resource management. The Dutch Water Authorities will continue to share their knowledge; experiences and staff with Ethiopian water managers to better institutionalize the environment.”
Graduation photo Kidist Bekele
Working with partners in the field.
Getting everyone on board with practical tasks“My personal challenge in being a young expert is to advise and guide senior experts in taking different actions. Sometimes I have difficulties managing without power. Through the YEP program I have learned different influencing techniques and how to use my social skills to ‘get everyone on board’ with practical tasks that just need to get done. I am keen to pursue an international career in the water sector, and within this context my ambition is to apply my knowledge in addressing water resource challenges.The six-year programme ‘Water Pricing for sustainable and inclusive growth’ for more efficient and equitable water use in the Awash sub-basin, Ethiopia is a good example. The project consortium includes 4 Dutch (public and private) partners and two Ethiopian partners: Awash River Basin Authority (AwBA) and Oromia Regional Water, Mining and Energy Bureau (OWMEB). I will be involved in the project as Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) Officer. My goal is to support the Awash basin Authority to implement good water governance that is needed to provide water resources for the benefit of everyone. The Ethiopian government has been making progress in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals ever since they were adopted. The Government is fully committed to making tangible efforts to provide the necessary momentum for their implementation. Our projects, optimizing water use, water pricing for sustainable and inclusive growth and the blue deal, all aim to improve the water related living conditions for the people, by looking after the interests of vulnerable groups, including downstream stakeholders, particularly woman, children, and the poorest.”
Getting acquainted with the pastoral communities in Ethiopia.
ALUMNI IN ACTION
Optimizing water use in Ethiopia
PHOTO: Kidist Ketema Bekele at the Awash River Basin in Ethiopia.
“In 2014, while working as an assistant lecturer for Bahir Dar Institute of Technology in Ethiopia, I decided to increase my knowledge and develop my skills by studying abroad. I heard about IHE Delft through the department of civil and water resource at my Institute. This department was working with IHE Delft on the NICHE project (Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education). I took the opportunity to study a Master degree at IHE Delft and was sponsored by the NICHE project for 18 months to study Water Management.”
Young Expert program (YEP)“While at IHE Delft, I met a Dutch expert from the Young Expert program (YEP) who was doing a short course at IHE Delft. Through him I had a chance to share my essay with the Dutch Water Authorities (Waterschap Zuiderzeeland) and I was enrolled in the YEP program. YEP offers the opportunity to gain experience in an intercultural environment. Young experts (YE), like me, can be employed by Dutch organizations to work on a specific project related to water. I was employed by the Dutch Water Authorities to work on 'Implementing good water governance in the Awash Basin, Ethiopia'. This was a good opportunity for me to work with a Dutch organization and to work in my home country. I was lucky because YEP offers coaching, training sessions and master classes in order to develop young experts skills.”
Optimizing water use in the Awash River Basin“I became an integrated water resource management young expert. I am working for the Awash Basin Authority (AwBA) under the Water Governance Implementation Program (WGIP) on the Basin High council Secretariat office and Partners for Water (PvW) project: optimizing water use in the Awash River Basin. The aim of the project is to make the Awash Basin Authority (AwBA) a good policy developer, planner, coordinator, information provider and regulator. It was a very interesting and challenging position, because I have to advise the Director General of the River Basin Authorities about the implementation of IWRM and Basin High council (BHC) mandates. I also had to work closely together with all project partners both Dutch and Ethiopian to add value to the successful implementation of the project.”
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Beyond the models Projecting the environmental consequences of climate change is only a part of the process. Prof. Roelvink notes that there are now good tools to assess risks and to develop strategies to deal with the impacts. “But the important thing is to have a central institution, like the Netherlands has the Rijkswaterstaat, to guide the whole process,” he says. “Because in a lot of countries, the government is not organized along the coast, and in fact the coast is often not given priority, so there’s not enough attention given to make efficient disaster or climate risk reduction plans.”
What can be done? Climate scientists are urging the world to take steps to prevent global temperatures from exceeding 1.5 °C (relative to pre-industrial levels), and clearly mitigation in the long term is essential. But Prof. Ranasinghe, who is a coordinating lead author of the forthcoming major IPCC report (Assessment Report VI, due in 2021), says, “IPCC projections show that even if we were to stabilise our greenhouse gas emissions immediately at present levels, sea level rise will continue for at least another 200 years. So, it’s going to happen and there’s nothing we can do about that.” So, what now? Besides mitigation, we need effective adaption strategies, such as making buildings and infrastructure more climate-proof, cultivating crops that are more resilient, or protecting coastlines through the construction of hard or natural defences. However, in order to formulate effective and sustainable adaptation strategies, it is first necessary to be able to make sound projections about the potential hazards and consequences.
Coasts support important industries, such as fishing, ports and tourism, therefore the use of land and resources in these areas is expected to rise in coming years as the population grows and continues to be attracted to coastal cities and towns. That means that projecting and preparing for climate related hazards along coastlines is becoming increasingly important.
Climate change and coasts
Fishermen in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh.
Quantifying the effects of climate change Coastal risk is not only limited to property or infrastructure losses but also encompasses environmental losses. PhD fellow Abdi Mehvar, who will graduate at the end of this year, has made this the focus of his research. Through case-based studies in the coastal areas of Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, he is developing a practical framework to quantify monetary value of the environmental losses that result from inundation and erosion caused by relative sea level rise and storms. There are a lot of uncertainties when you talk about physical impacts of climate change on the environment, and therefore, many factors can affect these types of quantification studies. “Nobody can say for certain what will happen to the coastal wetlands in the next hundred years,” says Mehvar. “But we work with the available projections of sea level rise in the next hundred years and then we link this to hazards that might affect coastal environment and services provided by the coastal wetland ecosystems.” Findings of this research can help environmental agencies, policy makers, and coastal zone managers to have a better idea of the value of the environment in coastal areas, and how climate change can affect that. “These types of investigations give a better understanding, for local communities, of how valuable the environment is in coastal areas and what should be done to conserve it,” says Mehvar. “By highlighting the economic value of coastal ecosystem services and its contribution to societal benefits, and by quantifying the loss value of that due to climate change impacts, we can encourage public participation and support for environmental conservation plans.” Outcomes of this research can also be useful for quantitative assessment of the environmental risk due to climate change impacts, evidence for which is very scarce in current literature.
The evolution of climate change It’s not new news that the Earth’s climate has changed throughout history as a result of natural occurrences. “If you look at the last half million years, you see this cycle of temperatures going up and down,” says Professor Rosh Ranasinghe, who is Head of the IHE Delft Department of Water Science and Engineering and currently holds the AXA Chair in Climate Change Impacts and Coastal Risk. “The difference this time is that the temperature is higher than it has ever been in the last half million years.” That difference in temperature is due, in large part, to greenhouse gases resulting from human activities. In fact, human activity has warmed the Earth by about 1°C compared to pre-industrial levels, according to a special report on global warming published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2018. And the impacts of this warming are placing ecosystems under stress and affecting human settlements and well-being around the world.
Quantitative economic risk map associated with projected coastline recession by 2100 at Narrabeen-Collaroy beach, Sydney, Australia. Risk values derived via the use of IHE Delft’s Probabilistic Coastline Recession (PCR) model.
Different models for different timescales Researchers in the Coastal Engineering and Port Development chair group at IHE Delft develop and use various types of models to project how coastal areas will respond to climate-related changes. The models take into consideration differences between short-term, episodic events (e.g. hurricanes) and medium to long-term trends (e.g. sea level rise) that can span years or decades. Most of Prof. Ranasinghe’s research is based on what he calls reduced complexity probabilistic models. “I focus on rapid models that capture the key physics relevant to a given problem, which can tell me what happens in a hundred years within a matter of minutes,” he says. He has pioneered the development of such reduced complexity models that are able to predict coastline recession, slow coastline changes, and the stability of coastal inlets. He explains that the models are adaptable: the basic framework is there, but they have to be conditioned for the location. “We are working on making them more user friendly because they were designed for research,” he says. “My ultimate aim is to make these products useful for frontline decision makers.” Professor Dano Roelvink, Head of the Coastal Engineering and Port Development chair group at IHE Delft, works mainly with process-based models, or models that are based on detailed physical principles of coastal change. Much of his work has been focused on tidal systems and estuaries. “Our first challenge is always to develop models that don’t go spinning in crazy directions when you run them for longer periods,” he says. “We’ve developed techniques that allow us to do pretty detailed simulations of tidal systems over many decades up to hundreds of years.” Because it is unknown what the weather will be or what policy makers will do in the future, models can be quite uncertain. One way that Prof. Roelvink has successfully worked around that is through the use of hindcasting. For certain systems such as tidal systems, they are able to look at data, for example over a century, and analyze the evolution of an estuary. “We’ve seen that we can be surprisingly accurate in that, and really measure changes in the whole form of the estuary with quite some skill,” he says. “And the tide is very predictable, so if it’s tide-related we can do a fair job of predicting things. But, for example, in tidal inlets with a lot of wave effects, where there is a wide variability, then making predictions using process-based models becomes tricky.”
In addition to projecting qualitative changes to coastal areas, it is also useful to quantify how climate change will modify things. “We have a qualitative understanding, like the sea level goes up and there will be more floods and more erosion, but people need to know how much,” says Prof. Ranasinghe. He also notes that the management sectors are now moving into risk-informed decision making. Therefore, designing protection measures and land use plans with a “zero risk” policy is not necessarily the optimal solution, since coastal areas also offer very lucrative investment opportunities. The target should be to balance the risk and the reward, or in other words, to develop risk optimal climate adaptation strategies for the coastal zone.
Coastal zones under threat The effects of global warming are expected to vary from region to region, but the impact is likely to be greater in coastal areas. This is partly due to the large, and ever increasing, proportion of the world’s population living in low elevation coastal zones. Occurrences, both inevitable - like sea level rise – and unpredictable – like the changing intensity of storms - could lead to flooding and erosion along coastlines. The impact may be seen in ecosystems, infrastructure and settlements, and the economy and will potentially lead to the displacement of people. In fact, a recent study has indicated that the cost of climate change induced forced migration, due to coastal erosion, would exceed US $ 1 Trillion. Unsurprisingly, this impact is expected to be greater for disadvantaged people and communities around the world.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide level variations over the last 500,000 years.
What is the plan When it comes to creating strategies to deal with the impacts of climate change in coastal areas, Dr. Duong emphasized that planning should be a continual and interactive process which aims to find a balance. The fact of the matter is that there can be conflicts between system management decisions and peoples’ interests. Moreover, people from different sectors can have different interests. “Decision makers and planners need to make a good plan or strategy for sustainable development. You have to find the optimal solution to achieve balance. And it’s important to step back and look around to see how your work can fit into the bigger picture.”
Making decisions on climate change easier During her PhD, IHE Delft postdoctoral researcher Dr. Trang Duong investigated the potential physical impacts of climate change on small tidal inlets (STIs), highly dynamic systems that are present in about 50% of the world’s coastline. Her research involved both generic applications and real case studies about the stability of STIs under climate change driven variations in mean sea level (e.g. SLR), wave climate and river flow. “Undoubtedly, there are a lot of uncertainties involved in climate change impacts study. To gain more confidence, we need to gain thorough knowledge and understand our systems well, at present, before further future prediction.” She continues, “So when you do a study, it’s very important to gain knowledge from local people. You can’t just sit in front of your computer, you need to talk to local experts and the community about the system you are going to study.”
Model projections of climate change driven variations in the inlet behavior at Kalutara lagoon and Maha oya river in Sri Lanka: (upper panels) The alongshore migration potential of Kalutara lagoon inlet is projected to nearly double from 500 meters per year (at present) to 1 km per year (by 2100), (lower panels) The inlet open duration at the intermittently open Maha Oya inlet is projected to increase by about 75% by 2100, compared to present conditions. All model projections were derived using the process based model Delft3D of Deltares.
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Property damage caused by the June 2016 storm at Narrabeen-Collaroy beach, Sydney, Australia
PHOTO: Workers install iron in the west canal flood river, Semarang city, Central Java, Indonesia
With the scientific findings from the study, the next step is to bring the knowledge closer to people, especially non-experts, to raise the awareness of the communities and to aid the process of forming science-backed decisions. In her current role, one of the things Dr. Duong is working on, is outreach. She is trying to transfer the knowledge she has gained from research to frontline coastal zone managers, planners, young professionals and the general public in developing countries, not just about her research, but in general on climate change impacts in coastal areas. “If you give people scientific papers, it’s difficult for them to understand and sometimes the messages are not absorbed. So, we’re trying to make the message easier to understand and communicate,” she explains. “We want it to be helpful for decision makers and planners, including local authorities and government.”
Increasing temperatures, changes in precipitation and sea level rise leave us facing unprecedented environmental and socio-economic challenges. With a high proportion of the world’s population living in coastal areas, these regions are particularly vulnerable to climate-related effects.