As populations grow and the demand for water increases across the world, the need for a sustainable integrated approach to river basin management has become ever more pressing. Climate change has become an additional overarching concern.
This course demonstrates how sustainable river basin management can be undertaken in an integrated manner such that the competing needs of the multiple stakeholders in a basin (eg water supply, flood control, waste water disposal) can be rationalised.
There is a major emphasis on the integration of technical and socio-economic knowledge in attempting to balance the conflicting objectives of economic efficiency, social equity and environmental sustainability defined by the internationally accepted Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach. Therefore, the course:
- demonstrates how sustainable river basin management can be undertaken in an integrated manner such that the competing needs of the multiple stakeholders in a basin (eg water supply, flood control, waste water disposal) can be rationalised;
- shows how an appropriate balance can be achieved between the conflicting objectives of economic efficiency, social equity and environmental sustainability;
- provides an opportunity for delegates to assess problems in major international river basins throughout the world;
- proposes agendas for sustainable river basin management.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of the course delegates will have:
- a comprehensive understanding of the integrated river basin management (IRBM) concept and principles;
- an understanding of how sustainability can be incorporated into integrated river basin management;
- knowledge of the impacts of human activities on the environmental state of a river basin;
- knowledge of the economic and social principles underlying IRBM;
- an understanding of how to balance conflicting objectives in managing a river basin;
- knowledge of how to assess alternative river basin management plans.