Refresher seminars

Each year, UNESCO-IHE organizes refresher seminars in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, primarily for UNESCO-IHE alumni.

Refresher Seminars 2008

Indonesia: Climate Change and Coastal Lowland Development in (sub-) tropical environments (July 2008)
download brochure
Uganda: Decentralized Water Supply and Sanitation: A key approach to achieving the millennium develoment goals (September 2008) download brochure

More information about and programme, brochures and application forms of the 2008 refresher seminars will be made available here soon.

About Refresher Seminars

The seminars cover themes that are of direct relevance and importance to the region and the participants.

The immediate objectives of the refresher seminars include:

Facilitating exchanges of experiences between alumni from different countries facing similar issues and problems in their professional capacities;
Enhancing and strengthening relationships among these alumni, and between them and UNESCO-IHE;
Adapting and improving the approaches and contents of courses held at UNESCO-IHE on the basis of the experiences and practices of professionals working in developing countries; and
Exploring opportunities for establishing and strengthening local and regional knowledge centres that are part of regional and global networks for capacity building in the water, environment and infrastructure sectors.

The refresher seminars, which are typically one to two weeks long, consist of interactive lectures, role-plays, group discussions, field trips, excursions, social events, country presentations by participants, and a final ceremony where certificates of attendance are awarded.

Organized each year since 1993, the refresher seminars have proven very successful and places are in great demand among UNESCO-IHE alumni. UNESCO-IHE is pleased to continue this tradition.

Since 2002 several new elements encouraging participation, learning and knowledge sharing have been included in these seminars.

Over time, many UNESCO-IHE-trained alumni have reached prominent positions in which strategic, managerial, policy and decision-making responsibilities have become important components of their functions.

Professionals with academic training (to MEng, MSc or PhD levels) may in time wish or need to upgrade their knowledge and skills in order to develop a knowledge base that is in tune with current and potential sector and professional demands.