Organizational structure and scheme of DeltaCap project

by | May 29, 2017

DeltaCap’s capacity development activities will be structured around 4 themes:

  1. Sustainable Delta Management: longer term planning and integrated assessment.
  2. Multi stakeholder and innovative collaboration.
  3. Participatory water management & local level information services.
  4. Participatory water management & national level information services.
These activities will initially entail innovative ‘train the trainers’ workshops, and be coordinated by a (virtual) Delta Centre. This Centre will further be developed, in a professional and innovative manner, and in close consultation with the government and other parties involved in the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100.

Dedicated 9 thematic work packages have been formulated capturing objectives, activities, planning and budget.

The overall management of DeltaCap will be executed by the Project Management Board (PMB).

Inception phase (WP1)

Objectives​ 1. To achieve project objectives and results to quality and within budget and time constraints.​ 2. To promote and facilitate collaboration between partners.​ 3. Communication between Nuffic and the consortium.​ 4. Providing contractual reporting amongst which periodic reports and final reporting.
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Developing sustainable Delta management centre (WP2)

The Sustainable Delta Management Centre (SDMC) will evolve as a closely-linked cluster of several physical/virtual hubs. These hubs will have their own facilities and capacities for capacity-building, and will address the relevant areas of capacity-building and training needs identified by the WPs. A coordinating hub, based at a well-established knowledge institution, will have functional linkages with other hubs (e.g. BUET, IWM, BWDB Training Centre, DUET, CUET), virtual hubs (training provider institutions with specific capacities), and mobile facilities (for local level dissemination and awareness). Other virtual hubs (e.g. business cases/training product delivery enterprises) can be developed during the project.

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Sustainable Delta Management : Longer term planning and integrated assessment (WP3)

Main objectives of Work Package 3 are :

  • Increase operational understanding of decision makers and planners about longer term planning and integrated assessment
  • Improved practical decision making in view of socio-economic and environmental developments including climate change
  • Improved understanding of BDP and SDG in relation to delta management

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Sustainable delta management : Innovative collaboration / Multi-stakeholder involvement (WP4)


The main aim of WP4 is : To develop inter-project collaborations in which front-runners embracing SDM/ADM-principles engage with early stage partner-projects in order to build capacity for adoption and replication.
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Participatory Water Management – information services local level (WP5)


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Information Services for Sustainable Delta Management (WP6)

The work package 6 Information Services for Sustainable Delta Management aims at demonstrating the potential of information services and stimulating their use to support planning, decision making and the implementation process for Sustainable Delta Management.

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Digital Support (WP7)

The main aim of the Work Package 7 is to develop an E – learning platform to support digital monitoring and evaluation of DeltaCAP project.

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Gender (WP8)

Main objective of the Work Package 8: Gender is contribute to gender sensitivity and professionalism in Delta management with gender sensitive case studies and examples.

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Communication and labour market investigation (WP9)

A main challenge faced by DeltaCap project is how to make significant impact from a small-scale project with limited budget. Communication strategy aims at up-scaling the impact of the project activities by strategically disseminating its activities and findings.
Labour market component is focusing on the future needs and attempt to understand the gaps in the labour market for delta planning and address these needs.

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DeltaCAP approach
DeltaCap: Contributing to Bangladesh’s capacity to deliver its Delta Plan

DeltaCap: Contributing to Bangladesh’s capacity to deliver its Delta Plan

by | May 24, 2017

Written by ir. CTHM (Catharien) Terwisscha van Scheltinga, on 17 November 2016

(Originally appeared in Wageningen University & Research  web site)

DeltaCap, a NICHE project announced over the summer, will help develop the necessary capacity and skills for Bangladesh to implement its Delta Plan 2100. The current project inception phase has included a workshop, recently held in Dhaka, to determine priority training and knowledge needs, leading up to the full project launch in January, 2017.

Bangladesh’s low-lying coastal regions often suffer from monsoon floods and tropical cyclones. As well as bringing destruction to property and posing a risk to life, these floods cause health problems through disease transmission and contaminated drinking water. Combined with population growth climate change is likely to make the situation worse with some estimates suggesting that by 2050 an extra 15% of the country could be vulnerable to flooding, impacting more than 30 million people in the coastal districts.

The country’s Delta Plan 2100, developed with the assistance of the Government of the Netherlands, grew from a recognition on the part of the Government of Bangladesh of the need for an integrated response to current and future threats; a response which prioritizes strategic and coordinated planning. It also proposes decentralisation of water management and the regionalisation of water related policies.

DeltaCap will help the Delta Plan to meet the demand for skilled water professionals who are able to respond to the complexity of current water challenges, developing capacity through an emphasis on training and knowledge transference, as well as increasing transparency of efforts, making longer term plans and implementing them while involving various stakeholders at multiple levels.

Starting with the needs of stakeholders

Some members of the DeltaCAP group

As one of the central pillars of DeltaCap is strong stakeholder engagement, the project team met with water professionals, training and education providers, as well as beneficiaries, in Dhaka, 23-26 October. During the ensuing workshops, participants were able to collectively outline needs and make suggestions for how best to roll out the project, based on current scenarios and challenges.

Some of the agreed capacity needs to be developed through training include; developing awareness about, and use of, longer term planning tools – including integrated assessments and scenario building; linking planning and maintenance at national level with that at local/district level; development of integrated, pro-poor, ecosystem based and gender-sensitive solutions; use of participatory water management techniques; integrated and inter-sectoral assessments for longer term planning, vulnerability and risk assessment; policy development for transboundary water management and diplomacy; and identification/integration of multi-benefits to end-users.

The project focusses mainly on developing and facilitating the training activities, as well as creating the Sustainable Delta Management Centre, a knowledge sharing centre for lectures, practical exercises and the assessment and collation of field work. Additionally, the project may also conduct feasibility studies to test the likely practical implementations of intended solutions. All this, in order to support implementation efforts once the Bangladesh Delta Plan is approved.

Built with the ambition to scale up and replicate across other deltas

Working together with the Delta Alliance, a knowledge-driven network of delta professionals, through the Bangladesh Wing, will confer two principle advantages for DeltaCap. Firstly, the organization will help with the coordination of the numerous Bangladeshi entities working on delta management issues both as providers, as well as being recipients of the new knowledge. Secondly, sustainable delta management activities need scaling up both at national and international scale. Nationally, the project can be scaled up by further involving Delta Alliance Bangladesh Wing partners. Internationally the project approach to capacity development through needs based training and knowledge, can be replicated in other deltas. The topics and themes covered can then be tailored to the specific needs of the delta region.

DeltaCap is a Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE) project, with Nuffic support of 1 million Euros. The project is jointly led by UNESCO-IHE and Wageningen University and Research, and implemented in close cooperation with the Government of Bangladesh and various other partners. It will be launched in January, and then run until August 2020.

Inception phase (WP1)

Inception phase (WP1)

by | May 24, 2017

DeltaCap inception workshop in Bangladesh

Written by ir. CTHM (Catharien) Terwisscha van Scheltinga, on 30 January 2017
(Originally appeared in Wageningen University & Research  web site)

A Inception Workshop of the DeltaCap Project was held on 16 January, 2017 at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

The main objective of this workshop was to share information and receive feedback on the background, objective, setup and outline of the planned activities under the DeltaCap project.

Speakers of the inaugural session, chaired by Mr. Md. Jahangir Kabir, Director General BWDB, were Prof.Dr. Saiful Islam, Honorable Vice ChancellorBUET, Prof.Dr. Chris Zevenbergen, Chair Flood Resilience Core Group, UNESCO-IHE, Dr. Mashfiqus Salehin, Director IWFM BUET and Dr. Ataur Rahman, Head WRE BUET.

A technical session was held, chaired by Mr. Abu Saleh Khan, Deputy Executive Director, IWM. Key issues of this session were Sustainable Delta Management Centre, Measuring Impact DeltaCap, and Development Trainings, presentations by Prof.Dr. Shah Alam Khan, BUET, Mr. Hasib Ahsan, M. Power and Ms. Catharien Terwisscha van Scheltinga, Wageningen Environmental Research.

Developing sustainable Delta management centre (WP2)

by | May 24, 2017

Structure

The relationships and linkages among the Work Packages (WP) of DeltaCap were decided in the Kick-off meeting in October 2016. The Centre (WP2) was foreseen to be an ongoing activity evolving with the progress of the project. It is anticipated that the centre’s activities and functions will be further defined during the inception phase as other WPs identify their needs.

The Sustainable Delta Management Centre (SDMC) will evolve as a closely-linked cluster of several physical/virtual hubs. These hubs will have their own facilities and capacities for capacity-building, and will address the relevant areas of capacity-building and training needs identified by the WPs. A coordinating hub, based at a well-established knowledge institution, will have functional linkages with other hubs (e.g. BUET, IWM, BWDB Training Centre, DUET, CUET), virtual hubs (training provider institutions with specific capacities), and mobile facilities (for local level dissemination and awareness). Other virtual hubs (e.g. business cases/training product delivery enterprises) can be developed during the project.

Activities

The cluster will function collectively to achieve the main goal of the project, i.e. strengthening vocational/professional education and training capacities in Bangladesh for sustainable delta management and participatory water management. The activities of the centre will focus on capacity building and curriculum development in the following four threads:

1. Sustainable Delta Management: longer term planning and integrated assessment

2. Sustainable Delta Management: innovative collaboration/multi-stakeholder involvement

3. Participatory Water Management: information services at local level

4. Information services for Sustainable Delta Management

During the project period, the cluster of hubs will be established as an integrated and self-sustaining multi-disciplinary centre for capacity development and advancement of knowledge for sustainable delta management and participatory water management. Embedded and integrated into the respective institutional systems of the partners, the Centre will be able to continue its national and global activities even beyond the project life time.

Present Capacities of the Partners

Capacity at BUET

BUET has a longstanding capacity for design and delivery of training programmes, curriculum development, and knowledge generation and dissemination in the areas relevant to the project. Existing physical facilities, logistics and administrative support at BUET will be useful for efficient delivery and management of the trainings.

More specifically, BUET has the following capacities:

1. Coordination, design and delivery of the trainings

2. Coordination of knowledge dissemination at various levels

3. Curriculum development

4. Knowledge generation (research/synthesis)

Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) has an interdisciplinary faculty strength covering a broad range of fields such as integrated, participatory and adaptive water management; delta planning and management; socio-economic analysis; climate modelling; water resources modelling; gender analysis; and disaster management. Ongoing collaborative research projects at IWFM include projects in the Urbanising Deltas of the World Programme of NWO such as Adaptive Delta Management, CORE Bangladesh and Living Polders. Other delta-focused research projects at IWFM include ESPA Delta and Dynamic Deltas. All these projects directly or indirectly address the goals of BDP2100, and are closely linked with the plan formulation activities.

Department of Water Resources Engineering (DWRE) educates future professionals to tackle the challenging engineering problems related to water resources planning, management and development. The department has advanced physical modelling facilities, and state of the art mathematical modelling capability and programming tools. The department is committed to generate new knowledge through research, and develop appropriate curricula for teaching and training. DWRE also conducts continuing education and outreach programmes, and has academic linkage with several universities. The faculty members of DWRE are actively involved with the BDP2100 process and several projects in the Nuffic NICHE and Urbanising Deltas of the World Programmes.

International Training Network (ITN) Centre of BUET plays an important role in developing a capable human resource base in the area of water and environmental sanitation, through training and research. It strives for expansion of knowledge base through networking. It has been successfully playing the bridging role between ‘academic & research institutions’ and ‘management & implementing organizations’. ITN-BUET works closely with Government organizations, International and Local NGOs, and development partners. ITN-BUET is currently the ‘national centre’ for South Asia Urban Knowledge Hub, a technical assistance project of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Bangladesh Government. ITN-BUET has state of the art training facilities (including facilities for on-line delivery of courses) and a pool of resource persons, from both within and outside BUET, for effective delivery of trainings in diverse areas.

 

M. Shah Alam Khan

M. Shah Alam Khan

Work Package 2 Leader

Professor, IWFM, BUET,

Dhaka, Bangladesh

e-mail: msakhan.buet@gmail.com

tel: (+88)01715547169

Abu Saleh Khan

Abu Saleh Khan

Sparring Partner

Sustainable Delta Management : Longer term planning and integrated assesment (WP3)

by | May 24, 2017

Objectives

Develop capacity building for Sustainable Delta Management: longer term planning and integrated assessment.

  •  Increase operational understanding of decision makers and planners about longer term planning and integrated assessment.
  •  Improved practical decision making in view of socio-economic and environmental developments including climate change.
  •  Improved understanding of BDP and SDG in relation to delta management.

Target group

People responsible for policy preparation, planning and implementation for water, land and natural resources management at the national level – organisations: WARPO, BWDB, GED, LGED, DoE, DoF, BADC, BIWTA, Urban Sectors (e.g. DWASA, KWASA, RAJUK, …), Local Governments (e.g. DCC, KCC, …).

Activities

1. Link to joint capacity needs assessment – the different elements as described above are discussed among the team and stakeholders in view of the desired outcomes of the training. This will lead to a shared view on the training needs in WP3. Also, a first identification of possible funding sources for the (prolonged) training beyond the project period will be identified in cooperation with WP2.

2. Preparation of the training – a curriculum will be developed including a list of relevant literature. Training material will be developed on the basis of the curriculum – readers, powerpoints. Case studies will be identified – case studies are real life situations for which specific elements of the training can be developed. The materials will be divided into modules to enable custom-made trainings for specific target groups. The curriculum will be used to explore funding opportunities (see under 1).

3. Training – the training will be held according to the agreements on how the training centre will operate. Participants to the training will be asked to fill in an evaluation form about process and contents of the training (to be developed).

4. Reflection/learning/feedback/way forward – based on the experiences during the training and the evaluation forms, the training will be improved, both in process and contents. Steps will be identified to repeat the training for a wider audience, depending on the funding opportunities as identified.

The following activities are foreseen over the next four years:

Develop a definition of Adaptive/Sustainable Delta Management

Delta Alliance ADM training:
  •  Identify relevant participants
  •  Collect existing training material
  •  Develop agenda and further training materials
  •  Organize training; resource persons, facilities, etc.
  •  Evaluate training (including training facilities)
 Discuss with WP2 on how to cooperate and communicate
 Further develop needs assessment for training based on evaluation of Delta Alliance ADM training and further input by DAWB partners
Identify training gaps based on training inventory in WP2 and needs assessment
Collect relevant existing training material
First full training (training may be performed several times)
  •  Further develop training material
  • Assign resource persons
  • Develop agenda
  • Organise training
  • Evaluate training
Adjust training gaps inventory, based on evaluation of training
Communicate with WP2 about preparation, execution and evaluation of training
First full training incl. business model from WP2 (training may be performed several times)
  • Further develop training material
  • Assign resource persons
  • Develop agenda
  • Organise training
  • Evaluate training
Communicate with WP2 about preparation, execution and evaluation of training

Adjust training on the basis of the evaluation of the training and finalise contents and set-up of the training

Identify potential roles of Dutch partners in training under the SDM Centre

Convey the training including training material etc. to SDM Centre

Organization

The training will be developed and delivered with the framework of the Sustainable Delta Management Centre. The relevant organisations (tbd) will be involved in the development of the training material and the testing and evaluation of the training.

Links with other work packages

WP2 – Institutional setting of the centre is important for further development and implementing/testing of the training

WP4-6 – Possible overlap in contents of the training/additionality of the different strands.

WP7-9 – these may set prerequisites for the training and provide support for implementing the training

Expected input from DAWB partners

Below is a short description provided of the inputs as expected from the DAWB Training needs will be based on the needs assessment and training gaps as identified. In close cooperation between the it will be determined What partner can provide what input to the training.

BUET

BUET will support in developing the training by providing training material, case studies to be used for the training, resource persons for conducting the training, and possibly provide training facilities.

WARPO

WARPO will support in developing the training by providing training material, case studies to be used for the training, resource persons for conducting the training, and possibly provide training facilities.

BWP

BWP runs a successful training course on IWRM and intends to develop an add-on training on ADM. BWP will support in developing the training by providing training material, case studies to be used for the training, and resource persons for conducting the training, presumably in close cooperation with CEGIS.

Jos

Jos

Work Package 3 Leader

Saiful

Saiful

Sparring Partner