Climate Change Hard on Transboundary Water Basins – New MOOC to Tackle Knowledge Gap

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5), the effects of climate change will reduce renewable surface water and groundwater resources in most dry subtropical regions. These changes may intensify competition for water among all sectors, strain already water-scarce environments, and negatively impact water quality and quantity globally. Transboundary water basins are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, says Sonja Koeppel, Secretary of the UNECE Water Convention, as she highlights the up-coming Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on freshwater security that GWP is developing together with partners.

Climate change impacts are not confined by political, social, or environmental boundaries at any scale. Competition for scarce water resources is already a global challenge, and climate change is compounding the issue. As such, new challenges require new solutions, and new approaches to build resilience in a changing world.

GWP is launching a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security that tackles this knowledge gap, and dives into the intersections of climate change and transboundary freshwater security. The MOOC pools together knowledge from a diverse set of contributors and partners spanning multiple areas of expertise and representing many different organisations and institutions. The MOOC is developed as part of IW:LEARN - it starts in 2020, but it is already now possible to register

The MOOC will explore ways countries may work together to establish adaptation methods that are embedded in broader approaches to water resource development and management. It will explore the following topics over a period of 6 weeks:

  • Week 1: Introduction to the MOOC and Water Security
  • Week 2: International Water Law
  • Week 3: Water Diplomacy and Negotiation Skills 
  • Week 4: Institutions
  • Week 5: Management Tools and Mechanisms
  • Week 6: Finance for Transboundary Water Security

 Sources:

MOOC Partners:

GWP, UNU-INWEH, UNECE, Northumbria University, SIWI, UNESCO International Centre for Water Cooperation, IHE Delft, GEF, IW:LEARN, UNDP, UN Environment, UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission