CapWater

Developing capacities in the field of monitoring and assessment of water resources

The need for practical training in developing countries in the context of water resources will grow in the coming years as both society and governments become more aware of the emerging environmental problems in their countries. The goal of the CapWater project is to significantly contribute to the education of experts in the field of water resources sciences and management especially in developing countries. The project aims to strengthen the practical and technological expertise of young professionals from Vietnam, Bangladesh, Brazil, and Germany in the fields of water monitoring, hydrological modelling, and data management, as well as expanding cooperation partnerships with university and business partners in the water sector. To successfully achieve these goals, the following objectives will be pursued:

  • Establish an expert consortium with both private sector and university partners
  • Jointly develop practice-oriented modules and learning units on water quantity and quality monitoring, data management, and modelling
  • Training trainers – improve the capacities, intercultural working, and teaching skills of lecturers and trainers in the consortium
  • Disseminate the course curricula beyond the consortium to each partner’s network
  • Develop new training modules to be offered to Official Development Assistances (ODAs) as well as governmental institutions and universities
  • Provide access to local markets for private sector companies and environmental institutions and educate potential staff and representatives in the partner countries.

In the context of this project, “learning units” refers to didactic material developed for Master’s and training courses within the consortium. Each learning unit includes clear learning objectives which should be presented via slides to provide basic concepts and explanations supported by visual media such as animations, educational movies, etc. In addition, the unit includes reading material (e.g., journal articles, institutional reports, book chapters) along with practical examples and exercises. Finally, questions at the end of the unit help students and tutors assess whether the material was properly learned and the objectives met.

The partner universities are ITT at TH Köln (University of Applied Sciences), the Vietnam Academy for Water Resources, Hanoi/Vietnam (VAWR), the Fluminense Federal University, Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil (UFF), and the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University Bangladesh, Dhaka (ICCCAD-IUB). The SME cooperation partners SEBA Hydrometrie GmbH, Kaufbeuren, ribeka Software GmbH, Bornheim, DHI-WASY Software GmbH, Berlin, and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) from Bangladesh are supporting the project with technical expertise and experience in the field of water resources monitoring, modeling, and data management.

Timeline: 2013-2016
Head of project: Prof. Dr. Lars Ribbe
Project coordination: Santiago Penedo, Justyna Sycz
Funding: DAAD