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Capacity development as a key factor for integrated water resources management (IWRM): improving water management in the Western Bug River Basin, Ukraine

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Abstract

There is growing consensus in the global water community that the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is only the starting point in the IWRM implementation process. This paper proposes that special attention should be drawn to well-elaborated and adapted Capacity Development (CD). It is argued that measures for solving existing water problems can only be sustainable and effective, if the knowledge generated about possible solutions is deeply rooted within the originating region. General guidelines for CD and knowledge transfer are elaborated, and these constitute the basis for region-specific CD strategies as exemplified in the Ukrainian Western Bug River Basin, one of five model regions within the International Water Research Alliance Saxony (IWAS). As a first step towards improving river basin management, situation analysis and capacity assessment are undertaken to evaluate social and political circumstances, identify relevant stakeholders, existing competencies, and antici- pated difficulties in establishing an operational IWRM and appropriate tailor-made measures are proposed. The experiences gained during this process indicate that neither IWRM nor CD can be expected to stand alone when considering sustainable development in water resources management.

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Notes

  1. IWRM is a general principle of international development cooperation, e.g. Germany follows the IWRM model in all its development activities in the water sector (BMZ 2006).

  2. On the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 it was decided to regard the development of IWRM as a major step in the process towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

  3. CAP-NET (2008) states that the river basin is the logical geographical unit for implementation of IWRM.

  4. Horlemann and Dombrowsky (2011) elaborate on the challenges to manage water resources at the level of river basins.

  5. Salamé and van der Zaag (2010) present a good overview of the wide topical range in necessary knowledge, skills and tools for water managers.

  6. Lopes and Theisohn ( 2003 ) argue that underlying capacities (e.g. ownership, leadership, knowledge networking, etc.) exist that are needed for supporting this broader view and thus improving the overall effectiveness of CD.

  7. As a consequence of this, successful capacity development has to look “behind the scenes” of tangible capacities.

  8. Elements of capacity are particularly addressed in the Community Development Resource Association’s approach. This South African NGO describes them as conceptual framework, vision, strategy, culture, structure, skills, material resources (Kaplan 1999). Additionally, it emphasizes capacities’ status as being “(in-)visible”. Visible does, in this context, apply to materials, skills, organizational structure, whereas invisible means that it is only observable through effects, e.g. vision or strategy of an organisation (Ibid.).

  9. Visser (in Ubels et al. 2010a) distinguishes between levels of human organisation (individual, organization, sector/national institutions) and geographic, respectively administrative levels (communities, districts/provinces, nation state).

  10. Capability to act and self-organize, capability to generate development results, capability to relate, capability to adapt and self-renew, capability to achieve coherence (Baser and Morgan 2008).

  11. Fowler and Ubels (2010), in Ubels et al. (2010a) elaborate similarities of (i) this widely recognized framework and (ii) the one from Community Development Resource Association (see above), both addressing the multiple dimensions of capacity.

  12. Visser ( 2010 ) elaborates that such “nested systems” are interdependent, meaning that one level cannot perform well without the other levels.

  13. Earle et al. (2010), for instance, do, referring to Salamé and van der Zaag (2010), state that “the process of developing capacity is as important as the type of knowledge introduced”.

  14. In brief, CAS means that organisations and systems are like living organisms that adapt and change continuously and unpredictably (ECDPM 2009a, b).

  15. Incremental approaches combine strategic intent with flexibility (ECDPM 2009a, b). Incrementalism is, according to Bea and Haas ( 2005 ), the strong interlocking between the formulation/set up of a strategy and its implementation without defining explicit targets.

  16. A discourse on institutionalising IWRM in transition countries can be found in Horlemann and Dombrowsky (2011).

  17. Salamé and van der Zaag (2010).

  18. For a detailed explanation of the IWRM spiral it is referred to UNESCO (2009).

  19. For more information on the decentralization process and shortcomings regarding the assignment of competencies see Unnerstall and Hagemann (2011).

  20. The first level of Ukraine’s administrative division is called oblast (province).

  21. Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States; foreign assistance programme implemented by the EU (1991–2007).

  22. Hence, we are not talking about a transboundary river basin approach between Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, but a national one, even though strong cooperation with the Polish and Belorussian authorities exists and a platform for information exchange is provided.

  23. Called Western Bug Basin Department of Water Resources.

  24. In 2009, this programme was revised and it now contains the "introduction of a system of integrated water management according to the basin principle"; yet, it is only declarative.

  25. E.g. one workshop was executed in coordination with Global Water Partnership (GWP) Ukraine in the role of the authorities involved in the water management of the Western Bug river basin.

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Acknowledgments

The graphic representation of Fig. 2: Combined IWRM and CD Processes were created by Mr. Sander Münster, M.A., Media Center, Department Media Design, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. This work was supported by funding from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of the project “IWAS—International Water Research Alliance Saxony” (grant 02WM1027 & 02WM1028).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forest, Geo and Hydro Sciences, Department of Hydro Sciences, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany

    M. Leidel

  2. Department Aquatic Ecosystems Analysis and Management (ASAM), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Brückstraße 3a, 39114, Magdeburg, Germany

    S. Niemann

  3. Department of Economics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Permoserstr. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    N. Hagemann

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Leidel, M., Niemann, S. & Hagemann, N. Capacity development as a key factor for integrated water resources management (IWRM): improving water management in the Western Bug River Basin, Ukraine. Environ Earth Sci 65, 1415–1426 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1223-5

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