Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

E N S U R I N G T H E K N O W L E D G E B A S E : A C O L L E C T I V E R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y / 3 6 1The Road AheadNew avenues for learningA CD-ROM search of the World Higher Education Database (IAU,2002) reveals that there are 3,873 institutes all over the worldoffering higher-education courses on water and water-relatedsubjects (see figure 14.4).Against this backdrop, a host of specific programmes andpartnerships are seeking to offer new learning and trainingopportunities for water specialists. Development partners areincreasingly recognizing the importance of building local educationalcapacity, in order to train people within their own countries andeducational institutions. The past decade has witnessed an expansionof international freshwater resource institutions and programmes.International educational programmes have proliferated, particularlywithin the European Union, through such methods as universitytwinning.Partnerships in water education (see box 14.9) are enhancingcooperation between academic centres and professional organizations.The UNESCO International Institute for Infrastructural, Hydraulic andBox 14.9: UNESCO-IHE – a partnershipin water educationThe UNESCO-IHE partnership is contributing to the postgraduateeducation and training of professionals and tobuilding the capacity of knowledge centres and otherorganizations in the fields of water, the environment andinfrastructure in developing and transition countries. Thisis done through a partnership network of academiccentres and professional organizations offering demandresponsive and duly accredited educational programmes atthe local and regional level. UNESCO-IHE encourages allthose involved in the water sector, including its 12,000alumni from more than one hundred countries, andscientists and professionals in public, private and civilsociety organizations, to participate in this dynamicnetwork. Through international projects, regional refresherseminars for alumni, symposia and other routes, UNESCO-IHE is able to fine-tune its education, training andresearch programmes to ensure that they continue tomeet changing demands.Figure 14.4: Institutes offering water-related subjects in higher educationEurope30%Latin America& Caribbean13%Asia34%Africa7%Oceania1%North America14%The total number of institutes is 3,873. Water-related subjects include WaterScience in Agriculture, Water Resource Engineering, Civil Engineering,Environmental Engineering, Rural and Town Planning, Public Health and Sanitation,Meteorology, Arid and Arctic Studies, Ecology, Environmental Science, Wildlife,Waste Management and Natural Resource Management.The maximum concentration of institutes offering water-related subjects in highereducation is in Asia, with 34 percent of the world total. This is closely followed byEurope, with 30 percent. Northern America and Latin America and the Caribbeanhave very similar rates, with 14 and 13 percent respectively. Africa and Oceania lagbehind, with only 7 and 1 percent.Source: IAU, 2002.Environmental Engineering (IHE) aims to build capacity in watereducation by linking educational organizations and regional networks.ICTs are also creating new learning environments, ranging fromdistance-education facilities to complete virtual higher-educationinstitutions and systems capable of bridging distances. Onlineeducation facilities have flourished over the past decade, provided byuniversities, private companies and individuals. According to theCanadian TeleCampus database, there are at present about 45,000courses available internationally for online learning, including someninety in environmental engineering and thirty in hydrology andwater resources.In addition, many operational organizations are granting moreimportance to the links between qualifications/certification,employee status and rewards. To nurture local expertise, trainingand education systems will require further expansion, through, forexample, professional associations and networking. In addition toensuring high scientific standards, curricula must be constantlyadapted to concrete problems and graduates taught to operate inan integrated, multidisciplinary environment.Media and public information: furthering the causeFor water to become a shared global concern, it has to be viewed assuch by society. In this endeavour, the media and public information