Hindu Kush-Himalayan FRIEND

HKH FRIEND has given high priority to training, capacity-building and technology transfer.

Most of the thematic research groups have conducted training courses and workshops to enhance the skills and capacity of regional countries in applying modern methods, tools and techniques in water resources management. Since 1997, more than 200 people from the region have directly benefited from the training courses of HKH FRIEND.

10.7.1 Regional training course on application of geo-informatics for water resources management

A regional training course on the application of geo-informatics for water resources management was held in March 2003 focusing mainly on the hydrological aspects of water resources management using ArcGIS software. A training manual was developed specifically for the two-week course and participants were introduced to GIS concepts in building a

Figure 10.3 Participants and resource people of the training course Application of geo-informatics for water resources management

spatial database and data models of basins. Figure 10.3 shows the participants and resource people of the training course.

10.7.2 National training course on geo-information for water resources management (GI-WRM)

At the request of the partners a national training course on geo-information for water resources management was held in November 2003 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This training course was in partnership with the Global Water Partnership for South Asia (GWP-SAS). The training course was held for 23 participants from a range of government and non-government organizations working in the water sector and focused on the application of geo-informatics for better management of water resources. Hands-on exercises on different software tools such as MIKEBASIN-1, MIKE 11 and ArcGIS were given to the participants. The trainees also worked on group projects to apply the knowledge gained during the course.

10.7.3 Training course on capacity-building for the monitoring of river water quality

A regional training course on capacity-building for the monitoring of river water quality in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region was held in May 2003 in Nepal. The course was held in partnership with Kathmandu University, Nepal in cooperation with the German IHP/HWRP National Committee, Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Koblenz, Germany and CEH Wallingford. The training course was a follow-up of the water quality course held in Islamabad, Pakistan in May 2001, which had looked into the chemical aspects of water quality monitoring. The week-long course with 16 participants focused on bio-monitoring and assessing the water quality using bio-indicators. The rapid field assessment technique, multi-habitat sampling and benthic macro-invertebrates were discussed during the technical sessions. The trainees were involved in the sampling technique during field work in the nearby streams as shown in Figure 10.4. The trainees expressed a lack of knowledge in

Figure 10.4 Demonstration of sampling technique, Nepal

biological monitoring to assess the ecological status of rivers in their respective countries and committed themselves to working further in developing a project to address this need.

10.7.4 Regional training course on glacier mass balance measurement

As a follow-up to the preparatory workshop on the development of a training manual for glacier mass balance, a training course was organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, with the support of UNESCO, IAHS-ICSI, HKH-FRIEND and the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India and held from 25 September to 10 October 2002 in New Delhi. 21 participants from Bhutan, India and Nepal attended the course. The resource people were from Austria, Germany, Sweden, Japan, France and India.

The objective of the training course was to build the capacity of the countries to improve the understanding of the glacier, mass balance measurements and to bridge the knowledge gap. A two-day lecture was held in Delhi followed by hands-on training at the Chotta Shigri glacier located in the Lahul-Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh, India. A manual of mass balance measurement had been prepared and was circulated during the training programme. Three sets of steam drill have been handed over to the participating countries Bhutan, India and Nepal to continue the work in monitoring glaciers. A training manual has been published and widely circulated.

10.7.5 Benefits from training

The immediate benefits from the training courses were assessed by means of questionnaire surveys conducted after the training programmes. The trainees evaluated the effectiveness and performance of the training courses. In general, the trainees expressed satisfaction in the course content, materials provided and knowledge transfer. These training courses brought together experts from both within and outside the region, which has led to a clear dialogue and fruitful collaboration, both within the framework of HKH-FRIEND and beyond. This is a very encouraging and positive outcome. Another positive benefit is that it enables young researchers, scientists and experts from various countries to come together and share their scientific experience and knowledge. Such interactions between some countries in the region are difficult for political reasons. As a result of the evaluations given by trainees many useful

suggestions and recommendations have been obtained to further improve the effectiveness and scope of such training programmes in the region. For example, participants of the snow and glacier mass balance training course suggested that there should be more exercises on data analysis and knowledge of glacier hazards in addition to the course provided in order to increase the effectiveness of such training courses in the future. Some trainees reported that in the long term the training they were given has helped them in their day-to-day work and in developing self-confidence.

10.7.6 Expansion of partnerships

Through the Water Quality Group the partnership has been expanded wider to other ongoing projects such as the South Asian Water Analysis Network (SAWAN) which addresses the issue of transboundary water quality. The main objectives of this programme is to promote cooperation in South Asia on environmental research, share regional information to build confidence, expand future cooperation, collect and share water quality information on a number of rivers throughout the region. The immediate interest of the programme is to collect and share water quality information among partner countries in order to understand the quality of the rivers. Such partnerships have brought together various organizations, researchers and developers working in the same field to share experiences and knowledge, and add value to the ongoing initiatives on water quality in each of their organizations.