Training Workshop: Delta Planning and Management - Challenges, Approaches and Experiences from Asian Deltas and the Rhine-Meuse Delta

 

   
For professionals working / interested in Asian Deltas
Host and venue: Myanmar Maritime University (MMU), Thanlyin (close to Yangon), Myanmar
Period: 21-25 October 2013

Organised by UNESCO-IHE, Wageningen UR, Ministry of Transport (the focal Ministry of the National Water Resources Committee in Myanmar), Myanmar Maritime University and ICEWE- WRTC group.

In collaboration with Partner institutes, Delta Alliance and Asian-Dutch delta projects. Co-funded by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

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Background
River delta's, like the Mekong Delta (Viet Nam), Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta (Bangladesh), Ayeyarwady Delta (Myanmar), Nile (Egypt) and Ciliwung Delta (Indonesia) are developing rapidly and are characterised by large-scale urbanisation and industrialization processes. They are facing serious planning challenges related to issues like economic development, population growth, vulnerability to flooding, and food security. These challenges occur in a context of regional and global changes including upstream developments and climate change. The Mekong Delta, Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta and the Ciliwung Delta are for instance the largest areas to suffer the severe impacts of climate change due to their low elevation, high population density and high dependency of local settlers on agriculture and aquaculture.

There is much to learn from people in these deltas who always have lived with floods, droughts, typhoons, and who have developed many adaptation strategies to deal with such risks over the centuries. But, addressing and resolving these complex planning issues require planning approaches and methods which are process oriented, oversee the problems,  create solutions from an integral perspective, and involve stakeholders to make use of current practices and experiences. An 'integral perspective' is required to address multi-level interests (local, delta, (inter-)national) as well as interests of different sectors in which key stakeholders are being part of the delta system. Such a planning approach is often seen as preferred, but in many countries it is challenging as the planning history is often sectoral orientated with limited stakeholder participation, information and tools are often fragmentised with limited sharing, and capacities to undertake and absorb such a planning process is often not well developed yet.

There is an emerging need to exchange experiences between professionals involved in various aspects of delta planning and discuss different planning approaches and methods and their feasibility in specific local contexts. This was also clearly demonstrated and articulated in the Delta planning Training Workshop 2012 in HCMC (Box 1).

The Mekong Delta, Ganges-Meghna-Brahmaputra Delta and Ciliwung Delta are focus areas of Water Mondiaal, the international chapter of the Netherlands Water Policy. The Water Mondiaal cooperation aims at the establishment or broadening of sustainable relations between organizations including companies in the Netherlands water sector and those in the delta countries.

Objectives
The aim of the training workshop is to bring together professionals from river deltas like the Mekong Delta, Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, Ayeyarwady Delta, Nile Delta and Ciliwung Delta who play / or will play key roles in delta planning and make them aware of different types of planning approaches, identify feasible approaches and methods given the local contexts and share experiences including those from the Netherlands. More specifically:

  • to expose participants to the latest thinking of delta planning with specific focus on environmental and social aspects and placed in a development context
  • to familiarise participants with the multi-level and multi-sectoral dimension of the topic - also by sharing the experiences of the participants from different backgrounds - with specific focus on rural/coastal and urban case studies
  • to familiarise participants with approaches how to address these multiple dimensions - also considering uncertainty - and (institutional) conditions for implementing such approaches
  • to present, practice and discuss examples of approaches and methods of delta planning by means of European and Asian case studies; and
  • to provide a Forum / Community of Practice for knowledge networking between participants, and between participants and resources persons of the institutes involved

Box 1. Concept of the Yearly Regional Delta Planning and Management Training Workshops

In October 2012 the training workshop 'Challenges and Approaches in River Delta Planning: Sharing experiences from SE Asian Deltas and the Rhine-Meuse Delta was held at the Centre of Water Management and Climate Change (WACC) at Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The training workshop was organized by UNESCO-IHE, Wageningen UR and Vietnam National University. In total 37 participants, many of them alumni from UNESCO-IHE and Wageningen UR were refreshed and shared experiences in different key areas of delta planning and management. According to the participants, the training workshop did live up to their expectations, in particular the south-south learning aspect was much appreciated. The participants strongly expressed their wish that this training workshop was to be repeated in the future in a different host country with different key delta issues. In a similar way we also received very positive responses from the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Hanoi, the Dutch experts involved in the Mekong Delta Plan and the Dutch business community. Based on these responses the idea came up to organise a yearly training workshop on ''delta planning and management', each year addressing different subjects.

The programme committee of the yearly delta planning and management training workshops:
- Ho Long Phi - Center for Water Management and Climate Change of Vietnam National University
- Malik Fida Abdullah Khan - CEGIS, Bangladesh
- Henk Wösten - Wageningen UR, the Netherlands
- Wim Douven - UNESCO-IHE

Outline 2013 Edition of the Training Workshop
Like the 2012 edition in HCMC, the training workshop offers a balanced combination of interactive lectures, case studies, field visit, and group assignments and discussions. The exchange of experiences between deltas will be facilitated through case study presentations and participant's discussions. To support and encourage group interaction and creative thinking innovative learning methods, like brainstorm, group discussion, vision development, will be used during the training workshop. A fieldtrip to expose participants to practice on the ground will be an integral part of the training workshop.

The training workshop in Myanmar is divided into four inter-related parts: 1) Delta challenges and approaches, 2) Delta themes (in two parallel groups focussing on rural/coastal and urban issues and solutions), 3) Delta integration (with input of the first two themes) and 4) Closure including discussion on way forward. The four parts are further outlined below.

Part 1 'Challenges and approaches' (about 2 days)
The training workshop will start with a small number of interactive presentations, the aim of which are to bring the group to a common level of understanding of the main issues and challenges of each of the three delta's and the planning approaches and methods applied. This will be contrasted with an overview of planning approaches and methods based on international experience, including subjects like:

  • Delta planning challenges and overview of approaches and methods
  • Key elements of planning process; system and problem understanding, vision development, identification of scenarios, identification of delta planning strategies, evaluation and implementation
  • Examples and experiences from the delta's including those of the Netherlands and feasible approaches given local conditions and contexts
  • Institutional and governance dimension including stakeholder participation

This part will include presentations of Dutch and Myanmar case studies and projects to identify best approaches in delta planning based on examples and experiences.

Part 2 'Delta themes' (about 2 days)
In the second part of the workshop a number of themes will be explored in greater detail. Some subjects for the 2013 edition of the Training Workshop could be:

  • Changing balance between agriculture and aquaculture
  • Effects of salt intrusion on agricultural production / Salt tolerant agriculture
  • Building with nature in delta areas
  • Urban - rural interactions / changing livelihoods in deltas
  • Climate change adaptation strategies for deltas
  • Knowledge, information and tools to facilitate consent and prevent disagreements

Part 3 'Delta integration' (about 1/2 day)
In the third part of the training workshop experiences from the past days will be presented and cross-linkages between themes at the delta scale and possible issues between themes / stakeholder groups analysed. The results of the themes work will be presented to, and discussed with, a panel of experts and stakeholders.

Part 4 'Closure and way forward' (about 1/2 day)
In this last part the need is explored to provide a Forum / Community of Practice for knowledge networking between participants, and between regional and international partners as well as ways of organising such a Forum / Community of Practice. This will be followed by the closing of the training workshop and handing over of the certificates.

Participants Profile
Mid to high level professionals from Asian deltas like the Mekong Delta (Vietnam), Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta (Bangladesh), Ayeyarwady Delta (Myanmar), Nile (Egypt) and the Ciliwung Delta (Indonesia) who play / or will play key roles in delta planning. Participants will have broad backgrounds from civil engineering, water and land management, rural planning, urban and regional planning to water governance. In particular alumni of UNESCO-IHE, Wageningen UR and Technical University Delft who are currently working in the field of the training workshop subject are encouraged to apply for this training workshop.

It is expected that in total 30-35 participants will participate in the training workshop, with a good representation of the different Asian deltas, of government, private sector, academia and civil society. We will also encourage gender balance.

The selection process will be based on an evaluation of the application forms. Participants who can demonstrate a strong interest in, and need for, delta planning in their region will be selected. Female participants are strongly encouraged to apply.

Facilitators
Facilitators of the training workshop will be Dr. Wim Douven (UNESCO-IHE) and Dr. Henk Wösten (Wageningen UR).

Experts from the local hosts in Myanmar and from partner institutes like Vietnam National University, CEGIS Bangladesh, UNESCO-IHE, Wageningen UR, Deltares and / or Technical University Delft will be invited for introduction of challenging and relevant concepts and approaches, present case illustrations, and facilitate workshop sessions.

Guest facilitators and presenters from government, NGO's and private companies involved in delta planning and management will contribute to this training workshop.

Application and Registration
Please apply via the application form. Deadline for submission of the application form is August 31th, 2013.

Candidates who submit applications will receive a confirmation of receipt. Soon after the submission deadline, the selection committee will evaluate all applications, and select the group of participants. Once this decision has been taken, all applicants will be informed of the outcome of the selection (around mid September).

Costs of participation will have to be paid by participants themselves and / or from your on-going projects. In exceptional cases an allowance can be requested to cover travel / accommodation / visa costs. Those who would like to make use of this facility are requested to indicate this on the application form.

Upon receipt of confirmation of attendance, further information will be provided regarding practical arrangements including visa and accommodation.

Applications are treated confidentially and will be considered in the order in which they are received.

Language
The training workshop’s working language will be English. 

Workshop Schedule

Find HERE the Workshop Schedule.

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