ESEE II

The upgrading and development of the human resource, research and institutional capacity in Colombia and the wider region in the water sector in general and in the sub-sector of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering in particular. The approach is based on the development of a regional centre of knowledge in SEE education, training and research at Univalle, Cali.

In spite of the investments made in Latin America and the Caribbean during the final decades of the 20th century, close to 90 million people do not have access to safe water supplies, while around 140 million live without basic sanitation facilities.

The control of contamination is still in the in out stage, with estimates showing that less than 5 percent of wastewaters receive some type of treatment.

Limited human resource capacities, especially at the postgraduate level, stand out as one of the main limitations preventing any improvement in these conditions. Consequently, this situation limits the capacity of R and D and full-scale implementation of projects providing appropriate solutions to the variety and complexity of water, sanitation and environmental problems in the Region.

UNIVALLE, founded in 1945, is the main centre of higher education in south-western Colombia, with two main locations in Cali and 12 additional sites in other cities in Colombia. Although Univalle had an undergraduate in Civil Engineering at the start of the cooperation program, back in 1993 which included environmental courses, there was no graduate program in the environmental field.

The first two project phases lasted a total of 6 years and saw the development of a post-graduate program in Sanitary and Environmental Engineering embedded in the institutional frame of the Universidad del Valle.

The objectives of the project are to:

• expand and upgrade the current regional postgraduate curriculum in SEE
• further upgrade Univalle's capacity in regional knowledge transfer and training of professionals,
• further strengthen and expand the research capacity and mentality at Univalle in selected areas related to the water sector, and
• provide postgraduate training and advisory services and research support to sector organizations and projects in the region.

Project achievements are:- a blossoming post-graduate educational program with well over 30 participants annually,

• a well-established institutional frame for the post-graduate program,
• an active research program at both the Masters and the Specialist level, as well as at the Ph.D.-level
• a growing regional reputation as center of knowledge in the science and engineering of water, visualized amongst others by the bi-annual organization of the Agua conferences
• a growing regional project portfolio.

Additionally, the project has resulted in the formation of long-term alliance between Univalle and IHE for the execution of education and research related activities in the region.

The alliance aims at developing and carrying out education- and training-related project activities in Colombia and in the region in the area of sanitary and environmental engineering and research. Alliance projects will be carried out under the joint IHE Univalle flag.