The Tailor-Made Training (TMT) in Welang River, East Java, was conducted to support the knowledge transfer and capacity building for the Water Resource Department of the East Java Provincial Government’s young staff. In this program, The Water Agency, together with HZ University worked as the executor and collaborated with the East Java office, the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, and Nuffic. The training used Welang Masterplan as the learning ground, reflecting on the real situation and challenges in the river.
Program Timeline
The TMT in Welang, also named Welang River Basin Management Academy (RBMA) courses ran for twelve months, starting in April 2021 until April 2022. The main goal of the training is to facilitate knowledge transfer and transformation, which has a big potential to be replicated in the future for new Ministry of Public Works employees in East Java Province to provide opportunities for lifelong learning following the Sustainable Development Goals 4 agenda.
The Key Points
The program consisted of 29 lectures that were divided into five blocks, followed by the final block on practical work. The blocks consist of (1) Systems Thinking & System Analysis, (2) Planning for The Future, (3) Stakeholder Engagement, (4) Circular and Ecosystem-Based Planning, (5) River Basin Governance, (6) Practical Work of Welang River Basin Assignment. The knowledge earned from the previous blocks is then incorporated into building a solution deck for the Welang River Basin Assignment practical work.
Using a nature-based approach to solve real-world problems in the Welang River, this practicum stage aims to foster participant innovation. The practical assignment stage aims to help participants comprehend the multidisciplinary nature of watershed management. The recommendations coming from participants were varied. The recommendations for upstream, middle stream, and downstream of the river include tree planting, wetlands, retention ponds, and coastal reservoir.
The Results
The RBMA final presentation was successfully held on 17 March 2022. This program is well-received by the stakeholders involved. This program is very accessible, as there are online classes and flexible times. Moreover, the programs offered to cover the field of water resources that prioritizes sustainability. Participants learn to address a broad range of topics in water resources management. The practical assignment stage aims to help participants comprehend the multidisciplinary nature of watershed management.
