Water Resources Management and Policy

University of Geneva Water management

Target Audience

This MOOC is designed for all those interested in the water sector. Prior training is not necessary to follow our program. The findings presented in this course can be easily reapplied to different contexts and to different scales of analysis.

Description

Water management today is faced with new challenges such as climate change or the effects of human activity. Public and private stakeholders who are active in this field must develop new ways to better manage the water cycle “as a whole”.

This course was developed by the Geneva Water Hub. Alongside researchers from the University of Geneva from a range of faculties, researchers from other universities and research centres will be involved in this course. Practitioners who deal daily with the political dimension of water management will also input into the course.

Course content

  • Module 1: From Resource Definition to the Ideals of Community Management
  • Module 2: The Rules of the Resource, their Uses and their Circumvention
  • Module 3: From Integrated Water Resource Management to the Water-Food-Energy and Ecosystem Nexus
  • Module 4: The Integrated Watershed Management (IWM)
  • Module 5: Water as a Source of Conflict and Cooperation

Learning Objectives

The objective of this MOOC is to develop an understanding of the problems related to water management. Firstly, this course will define a resource and, more specifically, the resource of water. It will look at how water is used and the activities associated with it as well as any potential conflicts. The course will look at water management in detail through the analysis of the different types of rights and obligations associated with, for example, the development of a multi-sectorial regulation system or a watershed management approach.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Identify the main issues and strategies linked to water resource management
  • Acquire the key reading material needed to understand the many variables (environmental, institutional and political) which affect water and which, in terms of management, may require adjustment.