Air Belanda Indonesia - Netherlands Water Partnership

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The demand just keeps on growing Central role for capacity building Capacity building plays an important role in the relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands with regard to water. The demand for better-trained people and more effective organisations just keeps on growing. The bond in that area is strong, building on many decades of history. 24 • Air Belanda Indonesia
Capacity building through the relationship with the Netherlands was already important in independent Indonesia because the vast majority of the hydraulic engineering structures in the country were designed and often built by Dutch engineers. And they all needed to be maintained. In the 1970s more and more people from Indonesia came to Delft, where IHE-Delft offered a large number of Master’s degree courses relating to water. But things have undergone a step change in recent decades in particular. Indonesia is experiencing a period of rapid growth. This has necessitated a reform of the water sector, characterised by the delegation of responsibilities to provinces and districts. This meant that the number of civil servants in the central ministry in Jakarta needed to be substantially reduced, and for about ten years there was a ‘zero hiring policy’. That has now become a major problem, because around half the civil servants in the water sector will be retiring over the next five to ten years. This will result in the loss of a great deal of knowledge and experience. In response, two thousand junior engineers for water resource development have been hired, but they do require further training. The training for that enormous group is being provided with assistance from the Netherlands. IHE-Delft (called UNESCO-IHE since 2003) has trained more than 2000 Indonesian hydraulic engineers over the past 40 years. But this institute also helps build capacity in Indonesia itself. Hence it has contributed to the development of a knowledge network of universities spread across Indonesia which already had some kind of water programme: CKNet-INA, the Collaborative Knowledge Network for Indonesia. ‘Water interacts with so many other sectors, the institutional and organisational aspects are becoming ever more important’ But capacity building is also a matter of mutual benefit, says Jan Luijendijk: “The Netherlands has learned an incredible amount in Indonesia. Take irrigation for instance. The Dutch knew very little about it. The knowledge about irrigation that we acquired there over many decades means that we are now an important player throughout the tropics.” Basis for the future The opportunities which the Netherlands offers for capacity building are very important to both Indonesia and the Netherlands. It is therefore important to cultivate the existing relationship and to continue working on an effective network. That is the opinion of Sur Suryadi, senior lecturer in Land and Water Development at UNESCO-IHE. He highlights two activities. Firstly the ‘reservoir’ of junior staff: “IHE has drawn up a plan to enable those workers to continue studying in groups. A strict selection process will apply: no more than thirty students a year will be selected to take part in a programme. In view of the size of the group, we are talking about a very long-term collaboration. That is why we are helping to get water training in Indonesia working more effectively as well.” Sur Suryadi also cites the ‘double degree’ master’s course for Integrated Lowland Development and Management from UNESCO-IHE and Sriwijaya University in Palembang. The two year sandwich programme takes place partly in Palembang and partly in Delft. The first year is financed by the Indonesian Ministry of Planning and Development, the second year by Nuffic, the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education. “28 Indonesian students have now completed that course in three groups. The fourth group is doing the course now. The future is still uncertain: I sincerely hope that the funding can be maintained. Integrated Lowland Development and Management is a complicated but also very important field of work, at which we Dutch are traditionally good.” Clear trend Jan Luijendijk of UNESCO-IHE sees a clear development in the form and content of capacity building. “Because water interacts with so many other sectors, the institutional and organisational aspects of capacity building are becoming ever more important. These are tricky issues about which we in the Netherlands have accrued a lot of knowledge and experience. The emphasis nowadays is therefore more on issues such as management, control and governance of water systems. Driving seat For us as UNESCO-IHE the starting point is always: what are your issues, what do you need? We always put our partners in the driving seat. They decide, we facilitate, with consideration for the context and respect for local knowledge. That is also good business, since ultimately it is good for the Dutch water sector if there are well-trained people in the important positions who have acquired their knowledge partly with Dutch support.” Lectures via the Internet Delft University of Technology is working with Wateropleidingen and Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) to provide a master’s degree programme in water management. The remarkable aspect is that the students can follow the lectures anywhere via the Internet. Once a year they travel to Bandung for the examinations. The project, which runs from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2013, is being made possible with Dutch financial support. The material is used a lot by companies in the Netherlands, but has now also been translated to the University of Bandung in Indonesia. The basic lectures come from the Netherlands and are supplemented with specific examples from Indonesia. capacitybuilding • 25
Page 1 and 2: Air Belanda Indonesia Cooperation b
Page 3 and 4: Foreword Water is an important natu
Page 5 and 6: Colophon Air Belanda Indonesia is a
Page 7 and 8: included the creation of the Jatilu
Page 9 and 10: Continuation and expansion The new
Page 11 and 12: Partnership Jakarta and Rotterdam o
Page 13 and 14: Waternet focuses on complete water
Page 15 and 16: Masterplan for protecting Jakarta f
Page 17 and 18: ‘Banjironline’ Flood app The ma
Page 19 and 20: Drinking with the wind Living on th
Page 21 and 22: ‘We are working with no fewer tha
Page 23: Dry feet first, then pay In urban d
Page 27 and 28: Mathieu Pinkers is Executive Direct

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