Delta Plans: land and water planning for tomorrow’s delta areas
3-Week course for professionals involved in decision-making for land and water management in deltas
Focus
Climate change further complicates the already complex problems that decision makers in deltas are confronted with. Many of the world’s deltas are densely populated and their populations continue to grow. In urbanized deltas the number and variety of industries is increasing, and in more rural deltas agricultural activities are intensifying in reaction to increasing demand, nowadays from all over the world. All of these people and their activities require more land, more water, and better protection against floods and droughts.
Indeed, the challenges that decision makers in delta areas are confronted with are enormous. Repairing damages within business-as-usual approaches inherited from the past will no longer be sufficient. What is needed are innovative approaches in which all stakeholders participate, and that are based on integrated, holistic thinking about what will happen in the next ten to twenty years and longer. Approaches must address the questions: What are the trends in population? How will demand for products, land and water develop? How will water supply patterns evolve? Once identified, how can the trends and patterns of essential parameters be translated into sound land and water management plans for the future? In short, what should a Delta Plan look like?
Objectives
This course helps participants to be confident in making context-specific Delta Plans. After completing the course, participants will be aware of the issues and challenges associated with population growth and increasingly complex societies, and the superimposed negative impacts and opportunities created by climate change. Participants will be able to bring focus in complex delta development issues with a medium term time horizon and translate these into concrete land and water development directions.
Safe water- Safe harvests- Safe lives:Food production under conditions of water scarcity
3-Week course for professionals involved in land & water planning, catchment management and rural development
Focus
What are the implications of population growth, climate change, industrialization, urbanization, increased welfare, changing diets, etc. for water and agriculture? How can we ensure adequate food for future generations as water resources become scarcer?What paradigm shifts are required in land and water management? Is there a future for irrigated agriculture, given its huge claims on water resources and capital? What technical and institutional innovations are needed? How can we manage water supply and water demand? How can we finance water management? How can we increase benefits from rainfall? What criteria can we use to set priorities in the (re)allocation of water resources among sectors and within sectors? What is the role of stakeholders and beneficiaries and how can you organize them? What are adequate and tangible land and water management indicators and how can we quantify and monitor them? What are institutional implications and constraints?
If you have to address these kinds of issues you should follow the course “Safe water-safe harvests-safe lives: Food production under conditions of water scarcity”.
Objective
This course is aimed at supporting planners, decision makers and executives in water and agriculture in reconciling land and water management in view of sustainable food production under water-scarce conditions. The focus will be on semi-arid and arid areas (Sub Saharan Africa, South Asia, MENA region).
Contact
Mrs. Thea Hummel
Email: Thea.Hummel@wur.nl
Website: www.watercourses.wur.nl
