Online Training Groundwater Management for Climate-Resilient River Cities – CSE

Last date to apply 22 Sep 22, 2023

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is a public interest research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi. CSE researches into, lobbies for and communicates the urgency of development that is both sustainable and equitable. The scenario today demands using knowledge to bring about change. In other words, working India’s democracy. This is what we aim to do.The challenge, we see, is two-pronged. On the one hand, millions live within a biomass based subsistence economy, at the margins of survival. The environment is their only natural asset. But a degraded environment means stress on land, water and forest resources for survival. It means increasing destitution and poverty. Here, opportunity to bring about change is enormous.But it will need a commitment to reform – structural reform- in the way we do business with local communities. On the other hand, rapid industrialization is throwing up new problems: growing toxification and a costly disease burden. The answers will be in reinventing the growth model of the Western world for ourselves, so that we can leapfrog technology choices and find new ways of building wealth that will not cost us the earth. Our aim is to raise these concerns, participate in seeking answers and in pushing for answers, transforming these into policy and so practice. We do this through our research and by communicating our understanding through our publications. We call this knowledge-based activism. We hope we will make a difference.

Almost every city in India can claim to be a ‘river’ city – with a river running through or by it. Besides rivers, most Indian cities also house a variety of other waterbodies such as lakes, tanks etc. But with these surface waterbodies getting increasingly polluted, depleted or simply built over, cities have turned to groundwater to meet their needs – and unchecked, rapacious withdrawal of groundwater by them has led to plunging levels of the resource.

This is a situation which leaves cities in dire straits in these climate change-risked times. Changing rainfall patterns, reduced numbers of rainy days, and the incessant pressure on resources due to the maddening rate of urbanisation makes recharging of groundwater a major challenge.

Managing the groundwater that urban centres still have access to, thus, becomes critically important in this scenario, especially in terms of making these cities climateresilient. This involves mapping the aquifers, locating potential recharge zones and intelligently managing the extraction of groundwater. This also means understanding the changing rainfall patterns, soils, lithology, physiography and hydrogeology of the cities and towns.

COURSE FEE
Rs 3,500 for Indian participants
US $75 for Global participants

A group of more than three participants in each batch can avail a discount of 25 per cent (applicable for all participants).

(Note: No training fee will be charged from nominated government employees. All nominated officials are expected to attend all the sessions.)

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE TRAINING

• Central/state/municipal functionaries (decision makers/managers and regulators)
• Engineers (Civil/Mech/Env) or planners working with water supply and sewerage boards/Jal Nigams or Jal Sansthans.
• Any other functionaries dealing with AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban), Swachh Bharat Mission (U), Atal Bhujal Mission, Namami Gange etc
• Accredited EIA, architecture and urban planning consultants
• Researchers and academics interested in curriculum development in planning, architecture and civil engineering
• Related sector professionals dealing with water, sanitation, flood, river, wetland or environment-related matters in the city and its urbanisable areas.

COURSE DATE SEPTEMBER 29- OCTOBER 16, 2023

LAST DATE TO APPLY September 22, 2023

COURSE PLATFORM Zoom and Moodle

COURSE DURATION 16 hours (self-paced and virtual sessions – 8 hours each)

CSE and AAETI will award Certificates of Participation to all those who attend and complete the course.

THE TRAINING

This online training is a part of a three-year CSE sub-programme aimed at building capacity of cities in the Ganga basin and making them watersensitive. Under this, a series of interactions – from webinars workshops and trainings to field exposure visits, and knowledge conclaves – has been planned to engage with over 1,300 state and municipal functionaries and other sector players. The sub-programme is supported by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). It is a part of the ongoing efforts by the NMCG for ensuring convergence of Namami Gange with other national missions like AMRUT 2.0, Smart Cities, SBM 2.0, HRIDAY, NULM, Atal Bhujal Yojana, Jal Jivan Mission and Jal Shakti Mission.

Thus, this online training will aim at building capacity of state/municipal functionaries and other sector players on issues, challenges and potential of groundwater management. It will focus on developing a sound understanding of groundwater context and typologies of India, and the challenges and significance of groundwater management in the urban context, specifically in the Ganga basin.

WHAT WILL THE PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE ON COMPLETION

• Training participation/ completion certificate
• One-year free subscription to Down To Earth magazine
• Top five scorers will get a 50 per cent refund of their training fee and will be invited to CSE’s training site in Nimli (Rajasthan) with a fully funded fellowship for one of the Centre’s upcoming residential training programmes.
• Gain access to a global network of practitioners under the School of Water and Waste, AAETI.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS, PLEASE CONTACT

TRAINING COORDINATOR

VIVEK KUMAR SAH
Programme Officer, Water Programme, CSE
vivek.sah@cseindia.org
Mob No: + 91 9708887214/ 9773834911