A Focus on the Tertiary Sector and Short Professional Courses
The Government of Lesotho, with the support of international partners, has embarked on an ambitious national programme for Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) under the brand name “ReNoka” which means in Sesotho – we are a river. The European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has commissioned the Deutsche Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to support the Government of Lesotho in the implementation of Integrated Catchment Management (ICM). The Action aims to implement ICM in line with climate change adaptation principles that will rehabilitate degraded watersheds across the country and to put in place prevention measures that will halt the further degradation of Lesotho’s catchment areas. The sustainable management of Lesotho’s catchments are of critical importance for water, energy and food security not only in Lesotho itself but in the entire Orange-Senqu Basin and Gauteng Province, Southern Africa’s economic centre. Target areas of implementation include policy harmonization; institutional development; human capacity building and behaviour change communication; implementation of watershed rehabilitation measures; and support for data and monitoring.
The target area of building human capacities in Integrated Catchment Management in the SADC region will be facilitated through collaboration with GIZ, WaterNet Trust, the National University of Lesotho (NUL) and other higher education institutions. Focus is laid, hereby, on students in higher learning institutions and practising water professionals in the country and region.
The project is undertaking the following project work packages:
Work Package 1: Assessment of capacity gaps in IWRM/ICM in tertiary education institutions (i.e. NUL, Lerotholi Polytechnic and the Lesotho Agricultural College) and among natural resources management professionals. Under this work package a needs assessment will be undertaken to systematically and scientifically identify the gaps that will be addressed under work packages 2 and 3.
Work Package 2: Educational capacity building at graduate and postgraduate levels. The objective of this work package is to build knowledge capacity on IWRM/ICM at graduate and post-graduate levels. This work package will be divided into the following six sub-work packages:
Sub-work package 2.1: Under this work package the post of an Academic Coordinator will be created and strengthened for IWRM/ICM at NUL. The Academic Coordinator will coordinate and provide guidance in all academic matters at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and research related to IWRM/ICM at the NUL and other high education institutions in the country.
Sub-work package 2.2: Establishment of Introductory Courses in IWRM/ICM at Diploma and Undergraduate Levels aimed at building knowledge on IWRM/ICM at the two levels for enhancing current and future management of natural resources.
Sub-work package 2.3: Setting up and running of a Postgraduate programme, i.e. MSc in Integrated Water Resources Management/ Integrated Catchment Management at NUL. The objective under this work package it to systematically build the relevant knowledge base at higher academic level for the management of natural resources in Lesotho conversant in IWRM/ICM.
Sub-Work Package 2.4: Provision of Post-Graduate Scholarships to support sub-work package 2.3 through relevant financial support for a limited number of students in the form of scholarships as a step towards building the managerial base for IWRM/ICM.
Sub-work package 2.5: Organizing internships for a limited number of qualifying Lesotho nationals in national, regional and international organizations which focus on IWRM/ICM related issues so that they can gain the necessary practical grounding in the area.
Sub-work package 2.6: Coordination of research work of post-doctoral fellows who will undertake academic and action-oriented research aimed at informing ICM processes for current and future decision making for enhancing key natural resources management in Lesotho.
Work Package 3: Implementation of short courses for professionals from different natural resources sectors aimed at building the knowledge and skills capacity of the already practising professionals in IWRM/ICM in Lesotho.
Working Package 4: Outreach and Dissemination of project outcomes to a wider audience in order to promote the adoption of best practices and knowledge sharing.