ITU Workshop on
“ICT as an Enabler for Smart Water Management”
(Luxor, Egypt, 14-15 April 2013)
Joint Research Centre
Water Resources Management
Technical and scientific cooperation in developing countries
 JRC collaboration project in Africa:
NEPAD African Water Centre of Excellence
 Aquaknow- Web Knowledge Management System
for technical and scientific cooperation in the water
sector
 Exchange of experiences in water resources
management between Europe, Africa, China and
Latin America.
Giorgia Donin
Cesar Carmona Moreno
www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
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Joint Research Centre (JRC)
JRC contribution to build the evidence base of
the Water-Agriculture-Energy-Ecosystems
Nexus
The European Commission’s
in-house science service
As the European Commission’s in-house
science service, the
Joint Research Centre’s mission is to provide
European Union
policies
with
independent,
evidence-based
scientific and
technical support throughout the whole policy
cycle.
Key policy areas include:
ƒEnvironment and climate change;
ƒEnergy and transport;
ƒAgriculture and food security;
ƒHealth and consumer protection;
ƒInformation society and digital agenda;
ƒSafety and security (including nuclear);
Agriculture
Environment
Tourism
Energy
Industry
Drinking water
•Evaluate availability and demand of
water in terms of competing objectives of
the different sectors
•Look at the implications for water
resources allocation and water security
•Agriculture and energy as the priority
sectors in which water saving and
efficiency should be improved in order to
avoid scarcity
Sizing future water gaps
•Deliver integrated impact assessments of the water
nexus in the face of increasing trends of global
population, urbanisation, pollution, over-exploitation,
climate change
•Focus on Europe and Africa: twinning Danube-Niger
and the Mediterranean region as pilot areas
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I. The Southern and Western Water Centres of Excellence in Water Science and Technology
AUC - NEPAD
EC support project
The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) aims to provide an
overarching vision and policy framework for accelerating economic cooperation and integration among African countries.
The EC, through its Directorate General JRC supports this
NEPAD initiative with one specific project organised in 4
axes:
The NEPAD Water Centres of Excellence
The NEPAD created the network of Water Centres of Excellence(WCoE) for
institutions involved in research, education and innovation within the water
sector. Such a network provides the basis for members to communicate and
collaborate in order to build capacity and stimulate innovative research
within the water sector in the African continent. The NEPAD WCoE
initiative has been adopted by the African Ministers Council on Water and
Technology (AMCOST) and African Ministers Conference on Water
(AMCOW) in 2009.
Water Sector
wide approach
programmes
• Supporting the regional networks of
Centres of Excellence in the water
sector with specific capacity building
actions
Capacity
building
NEPAD networks focus on the following five objectives:
Knowledge
management
•Research
•Education and training
•Information brokerage
•Networking
•Service rendering
Policy
dissemination
• Fostering the Water Sector
Wide
Programmes
approaches
through
the
regional networks of Centres of
Excellence in pilot countries
• Supporting
the
knowledge
management for capacity building
for the development at regional
level of the water sector
• Developing guidelines for WRM in
developing countries and support
policy dissemination activities at
continental, regional and national
level
USE OF LOCAL EXPERTISE (ex. WCoE) FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTED SOLUTIONS
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Southern African Centres of Excellence
Network members
Expected Results
- Establishment of the Southern African Network of NEPAD
Centres of Excellence in Water Science and technology;
- Stakeholders analysis for capacity building in the water sector;
- A capacity building strategy to improve advocacy and expertise
for sector development in the region;
- Implementation of the capacity building strategy through a series
of training courses in the region;
- A strategy to improve the dialogue between research and
development partners;
- Protocols of collaboration with the regional institutions such as
AMCOW and SADEC;
- Proceedings of an International conference on exchange of
experiences in water resources management;
- A strategy to improve Knowledge management in the water
sector in the region.
www.nepadwatercoe.org/
- Stellenbosch University (South Africa) – coordinator
- International Centre for Water Economics and
Governance in Africa (Mozambique)
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)
- University of Western Cape (South Africa)
- University of Malawi (Malawi)
- University of Zambia (Zambia)
- University of Botswana (Botswana)
- The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research,
CSIR (South Africa)
Western African Centres of Excellence
Network members
Expected Results
- Establishment of the Western African Network of NEPAD Centres
of Excellence in Water Science and technology;
- Stakeholders analysis for capacity building in the water sector
together with a needs prioritization;
- Establishment of a regional joint training course based on the
needs prioritized;
- Protocols of collaboration with the regional institutions such as
AMCOW and ECOWAS;
- Capacity building on the improvement of knowledge management
in the water sector in the region;
- Analysis of the impact of climate variability on water resources
availability in Western Africa.
www.aquaknow.net
- University of Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal)coordinator
- International Institute for Water and Environmental
Engineering (Burkina Faso)
- University of Benin (Nigeria)
- National Water Resources Institute (Nigeria)
- Kwame Nkrumah University for Sciences and
Technology (Ghana)
www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
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II.How ICT helps networking and capacity building?
AQUAKNOW
A Web Knowledge Management System for technical and scientific cooperation in the water sector
www.aquaknow.net
What? AquaKnow is an online
interactive
platform
to
share
documents, data, information, ideas,
experiences and work with other
stakeholders involved in the WATER
sector
Why? To support the dialogue and
the
work
of
networks
of
practitioners, experts and institutions
in the water sector through WEB
technologies
Technical requirements
• Open – source standards
• Modular - maximum flexibility
• Low resource demanding system
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Water sector constraints
-Numerous Stakeholders : various level of
decision and action
-Fragmented information
-Complex data: basic types up to models,
GIS…
Water Community Needs
- User shape solution
-Collaborative
work/networking/learning tools
Content Management System (CMS)
requirements
- Open source software
- User generated content
- User friendly interface
www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Custom WEB-based
knowledge
management tool
Contact
GIS Tool
The User Creates and
Manages Content
The Geographical Information System (GIS)
tool allows users to share and visualize
geographical data.
• Using DIRECT contribution of USER = firsthand information
• NO DUPLICATION
-> make knowledge
searchable
Documents
Events
Working
Group
News
Link
Spatial analysis operations
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III. Conference on exchange of experiences in water resources management between Europe, China, Africa, and
Latin America
Background
The conference “exchange of experiences in water resources
management between Europe, China, Africa, and Latin
America” was organised in the framework of the European
Commission (EC) support project to the African
Union/NEPAD Networks of Centres of Excellence in Water
Science and Technology implemented by the EC Joint
Research Centre (JRC)
Where, who and when
The conference was held at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra
(Italy) from the 15 to 18 October 2012.
The conference welcomed the JRC international water
partnerships for water and development including:
-the NEPAD Networks of Water Centres of Excellence as
main contribution of the event,
- the RALCEA-Latin American Network of Knowledge
Centres in the water sector,
-the China-Europe Water Platform Institutions and,
-foremost European basin authorities with a long experience
on the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive.
Topics
DAY 1: water stakeholders’ analysis and
participation
DAY 2: water resources balance and assessment
DAY 3: water quality and sanitation
Participants exchanged experiences and shared lessons learned = MUTUAL
LEARNING AND BENEFITS
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DAY 1: Water stakeholders’ analysis and participation
Some identified issues:
Improve coordination
between institutions
managing water
resources
Case study: A stakeholder need assessment for the SADC region
In 2012 the Southern Africa Water Centres of Excellence (SANWATCE)
network was contracted by the JRC to carry out an independent
investigation into the skills shortages that exist in the SADC region,
and to further discuss how the Centres of Excellence members of the
SANWATCE could address sector expertise and advocacy for sector
development in the region.
Formulation of policies and best
practices based on scientific results
which are understandable for the
stakeholders who will apply them
Targeting and adapting information
and
technologies
for
specific
identified stakeholder and adapting
it to user needs and understanding
Such type of study could be replicated for the need of
technologies by stakeholders at city, regional or country
level. It is also of outmost importance to identify who
can address these needs.
Etc.
Some recommendations:
Communication and dissemination
-Scientists should set up protocols and tools for disseminating science and the role of technology in managing the water sector.
- This dissemination should target water resource consumers and users as well as actors at the political level. Otherwise not sustainable!
Smarter water management should orient its technologies to stakeholder’s needs and local contexts. Technologies role and benefits should be
made understood clearly and easily to water stakeholders in order to be useful and sustainable.
stakeholder’s analysis needs is important!
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DAY 2: water resources balance and assessment
Some identified issues:
Poor access to data as well
as access to good quality data
Poor knowledge
management behaviour
and technologies
Lack of sharing of data
attitude from government
bodies and private
companies for example.
Etc.
Case study: EUROCLIMA- Regional Analysis Frequency (RFA-LM) with
L-Moments
UNESCO International Hydrological Program
(IHP) has been promoting the development of
national water balances in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Its methodology is based on seasonal
statistics variables representing water balance
components in reference periods of 30 years.
Poor communication
strategies to disseminate
knowledge
Establishment of a network of institutions and
experts who are working on the dissemination of a
regional frequency analysis based on L-moments
methodology.
Some recommendations:
Knowledge management and data
Good knowledge management and governance at country level and appropriate technology (software solutions,
communities, wikies, networks etc.) are essential for the transfer, capture and creation of knowledge.
Local context importance
Access to data or appropriate technologies choices are dependent from local contexts. –Case study EUROCLIMA
Pre-defined solutions do not work. Each technology, methodology or ways of accessing data and managing it must
be context specific. Data related issues in Africa are very different than the ones suffered in Latin America for
example. These details must be taken into considerations when developing a technology.
www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Local context and needs: Latin America is
predicted to be one of the regions most affected by
climate change.
 Need to built an approached based on the
estimates of extremes rather than on average
values!
Contact
DAY 3: water quality and sanitation
Case study: RALCEA – water quality and sanitation research axis
Some identified issues:
Technologies are often not
available, appropriate or
affordable to local contexts
Water actors are often conservative
towards accepting new
technologies.
Technology vs. polluter pays
principle
Inadequate preparation of end users
to take up delivered technologies,
including maintenance capacity,
especially in rural areas
Cultural adaptation and good behaviour
(e.g. hygiene, boiling water or other simple
technologies such as carbon treatment) are
often underestimated
Urban context is a
growing challenge.
Etc.
The Latin American network of knowledge centres in the water sector
facilitates the identification of needs, collaboration and exchange of
information between the Centers of Excellence and their governments (called
focal points).
The water quality and sanitation axis is one out of 3 thematic research axis
that the networks currently works on. It aim is to improve the knowledge on
water quality and sanitation issues in Latin America and support the policy
making level. The axis main tasks are:
-Definition of a project portfolio to be implemented by the
Centers of Excellence
-the Development of a strategy for implementing each of the
initiatives;
-Deliver capacity building activities on water quality and
sanitation for the participants;
-Develop and adapt tools for water quality and sanitation.
Some recommendations:
Costs
-Innovation should include trying to be more cost effective and pay attention to the cost recovery. Efforts need to be made to demonstrate the effectiveness of new technologies.
Regulations
-Appropriate regulations may be needed to implement these new technologies.
Link research, governments and population needs
-Need to link research activities and population effective needs. Research must invest in technologies and solutions that have a short to medium term impact and not just focus on
the long term research. This does require a more tailored approach for specific issues. The usefulness of technologies must understood and supported by governments for their
sustainability. (RALCEA case study)
Old is (sometimes) good
-Revisiting old technologies and already existing ones and basic practices also need to be considered. Application of these can be supported by training, capacity building and
awareness raising.
-The need to build capacities for taking ownership of appropriate technologies
For water related technologies there is a need to be mindful of costs when choosing and implementing a specific technology. Clear regulations and legislation framework
must exist. Technologies must be linked to population effective needs otherwise they are useless but they must be understood and supported also by government
institutions (for funding, long term sustainability etc.). No one-size-fits-all technology is applicable for all stakeholders, institutions or contexts.
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
Contact Information:
Contact Information:
Giovanni BIDOGLIO, Head of Unit
Water Resources Unit
Institute for Environment and Sustainability
Joint Research Centre
European Commission
Cesar Carmona Moreno
Water Resources Unit
Institute for Environment and Sustainability
Joint Research Centre
European Commission
Email: giovanni.bidoglio@jrc.ec.europa.eu
Email: cesar.carmona-moreno@jrc.ec.europa.eu
www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
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