Capacity Building in the Water and Environmental Sector, Westbank and the Gaza Strip

Institutional and human resources capacity building of the Occupied Territories (Palestine) with respect to environmental protection and water resources conservation.

Specialised training in water and environmental engineering was not yet offered at Universities in Palestine prior to 1993. Though the Israeli Civil Administration was responsible for the water and environmental sectors in the Westbank and Gaza Strip, it was expected that as a result of the Multilateral Peace Negotiations these responsibilities would shift to the respective authorities in Palestine.

Accordingly, a substantial demand for qualified water and sanitary engineers existed in particular, and in consideration of water shortages, pollution at water sources and deficiencies in the existing facilities in the Occupied Territories during this period.

In line with these developments, the Commission of the European Union financed a training and institutional strengthening programme implemented by IHE and Birzeit University (BZU), further supported by the Palestinian Council for Higher Education, Associations of Palestinian Engineers and the Palestinian Hydrology Group.

As part of the institutional and human resources capacity building efforts, postgraduate courses were needed to familiarise engineers from the local government and private sector in Palestine with integrated planning, design and management of water resources, water supply and sanitation facilities.

Project activities included the development and implementation of postgraduate courses and curricula in Water Resources Management, and Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation organised at BZU.

Staff development was conducted through training at IHE and on-the-job, including field studies centred around these topics. Project activities also covered the upgrading of BZU's laboratory and field work equipment, computer and teaching facilities.

Curriculum Development and New MSc Programme in Water Engineering

• The establishment of an MSc programme in Water Engineering with specialisations in the field of Water Supply, Waste Water Engineering and Groundwater Hydrology;
• The development of a curriculum for the new MSc programme in Water Engineering at BZU, including the preparation of lectures, exercises, workshops, laboratory and fieldwork; and
• Field studies were performed on water resources management, water supply and environmental sanitation; and thereafter a nationally- and regionally-oriented symposium was organised.

BZU Staff Development

• Development of BZU staff was conducted by IHE staff through training at IHE and on-the-job.

Facilities Upgrading

• Improvements were made to BZU's laboratory and fieldwork equipment, computers and lecturing materials, and the library was supplied with additional publications.