Progress report for
Water Cycle Integrator (WCI)
Achievement at a glance
The Water Cycle Integrator consists of three functions: knowledge integration, capacity integration, and process integration, as follows:WCI promotes “water cycle consilience” by integrating the knowledge of water cycle, climate, agriculture, and energy using well-organized observation, modeling, and data and information systems based on by the Open Science policy.
WCI fosters the integration of “facilitators” to work as catalysts capable of providing expert advice based on a broad range of scientific and indigenous knowledge about climate change in the local context. Facilitators can bridge the gaps between scientific society and local stakeholders, support education and training, and inform ways leading to practical solutions.
WCI establishes cross-sectoral frameworks at local, national, regional, and global levels to link cutting-edge science beyond disciplines with on-site decision-making and action using an “end-to-end approach”.
In order to promote the above-mentioned WCI worldwide, ICHARM supports to establish and implement "Platform on Water Resilience and Disasters" in each country as part of the activities of the International Flood Initiative (IFI), of which it serves as the secretariat. This Platform is a national framework in which various entities such as government agencies and organizations related to flood disaster management, NGOs, resident representatives, and academia participate, discuss, and collaborate to promote activities for water resilience and disaster mitigation. The aim is to lead to the formulation of better flood countermeasures and climate change adaptation measures. In the Platform activities, considering the "knowledge integration," they use the OSS-SR to archive data, build models, perform analysis, and conduct risk assessments of social change and climate change. At the same time, with the aim of "capacity integration," facilitators will be trained and evaluation results will be provided to policy makers and local communities in an easy-to-understand manner through the facilitators. These platform activities involve a wide range of actors at the national and regional levels and contribute to “process integration.''
As of April 2024, the Platform activities are underway mainly in Asian countries such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Furthermore, in order to promote WCI in Africa, ICHARM is collaborating with international organizations such as UNESCO and related UNESCO Category 2 Centers, and is preparing a plan in Ghana, Kenya, or South Sudan as target countries.
Next Steps
KOIKE ToshioBeneficiaries
The Platform is a framework in which various organizations involved in water disaster risk reduction in each country, such as government agencies, related organizations, academia, media, and NGOs, participate, and they themselves are not only implementers but also beneficiaries.
Actions
As platform activities to promote WCI, the following activities were conducted in each country from April 2023 to April 2024.In the Philippines, a training session for OSS-SR users and administrators was held in Davao City on June 30, 2024, with approximately 30 participants, and on July 3, 2024, a plenary meeting was held with 60 participants from DOST, DPWH, UPLB, etc. In addition, in order to begin efforts such as OSS-SR development and facilitator training that have been carried out in Davao City in Digos City, which is adjacent to Davao City, the President of Davao del Sur State University and the Director-General of the Davao branch of the DOST, and we held an exchange of opinions with high-level classes, and concluded a three-party agreement on January 24, 2024.
In Sri Lanka, the Irrigation Department (ID), the National Building Research Institute (NBRO), the Disaster Management Center (DMC), the Department of Meteorology (DOM), the Mahaweli Management Department and the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLRDC) are responsible for flood and drought related issues. The platform's plenary meeting was held on March 15, 2024, with 45 participants from organizations that discussed the future schedule and implementation plan.
In Indonesia, approximately 20 people from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR), National Disaster Prevention Agency (BNPB), Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), etc. participated the 2nd platform’s plenary meeting on April 22, 2024. At the meeting, participating Indonesian organizations reported on recent activities in the target basins, followed by a discussion on the framework for future cooperation.
ICHARM has also started platform building activities in Thailand and Vietnam. In Thailand, a total of 81 people from 16 organizations including the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR), Thailand Meteorological Department (TMD), and Royal Irrigation Department (RID) participated, and the first plenary meeting of the platform was held on March 25, 2024. In Vietnam, on October 26, 2023, ICHARM signed a memorandum of understanding on water resilience and disasters with the Vietnam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration (VNMHA) of the Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and started dialogue with key institutions.
Additionally, in April 2023, ICHARM held a side event at the International Conference on Climate Change hosted by UNESCO, and discussed with representatives from UNESCO Category 2 Centers on how to achieve cross-disciplinary integration, link cutting-edge science and technology with individual actions, and develop human resources who will lead the way under the framework of UNESCO IHP-IX. Following the presentations, the participants engaged in a discussion moderated by Dr. Abou Amani, the director of the Division of Water Sciences, UNESCO. They reached an agreement that the five C2C would work together on a research project aimed at addressing water issues in Africa such as Ghana, Kenya, and South Sudan, with the goal of promoting cross-sectoral and integrated multilateral collaboration.