Summer Course: Freshwater Ecosystems - Challenges and Solutions to Sustainable Management in a Warmer and Water Limited World

Summer Course: Freshwater Ecosystems - Challenges and Solutions to Sustainable Management in a Warmer and Water Limited World

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
07 July 2025 – 11 July 2025
Delft, the Netherlands
Short course
In-person

The global climate is warming and intensifying, with more extreme rainfall occurring in shorter periods, alternated by longer and warmer dry periods. This is leading to an increasing occurrence of both floods and droughts. Adaptation and mitigation measures responding to these threats often emphasize engineering solutions to protect against flooding and increase water storage for times of drought. Thus, both the threats (more floods and droughts) and the solutions (greater engineering of freshwater systems) put freshwater ecosystems under increasing pressure.

Nature-based solutions, holistic water management, and green infrastructure provide alternative and more ecosystem-friendly options to address the threats.

There are, however, many challenges: 

  • What are the impacts of the threats and the solutions on freshwater ecosystems?
  •  How can freshwater ecosystems be managed sustainably, particularly as societies cope with extreme climate variability? 
  • How can good governance and policies support a more sustainable management of freshwater ecosystems and the services they provide in this increasingly water limited world?

In this one-week summer school you will get insight into these challenges.

You will explore the intrinsic links between freshwater ecosystems and services for societies and discuss how to ensure the sustainable and equitable management of freshwater resources. Furthermore, you will gain insight into different global paradigms of sustainable ecosystem management, explore actions and policies to support aquatic resources, and compare examples of management outcomes through lectures, debates, and group discussions.

This summer school has been developed through a special collaboration between the University of California at Davis in the USA and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands.

Application is open until 7 June 2025

Eligibility

Intermediate (Some prior knowledge of any climate-related field required)

Language/s used in this training

English

Target Audience for the training

Master, PhD, Post-doc, Practitioners, Decision-makers, Policy-makers, Researchers

Other details

Costs / FeesYes
Funding SupportYes
Certificate of CompletionYes
  • For further queries:
  • Michael McClain
  • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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