Organizing Water

Water and water-related challenges world-wide demand adequate management responses. In this module, the focus is primarily on how water management is organized in the Global South and the Global North, and what choices are made in that process. The module emphasizes the complexity of water management and the increasing need for coordination and integration between sectors, stakeholders, scales, etc. In this light, we also discuss how the organization of water is subject to change - infrastructural changes, changes in how water management is regulated, climate change, changes in what civil society prioritizes – and how water management responds to these changes.

The course combines concepts of how water management can be organized with an exploration of the practice of organizing water management. These themes are explored through interactive lectures of IHE staff and experts from the Dutch and international water sector (see lectures below), a research and fieldwork project in the Netherlands, exploring real-world water management challenges and applying the concepts learned in class (group work), and a reading assignment to critically engage with core water management concepts (individual).