IHE Delft : MSc in Water and Sustainable Development interactive webinar ( Section 2 )

The webinar focusing on our MSc programmes in Water and Sustainable Development took place on 17 April 2024. Charlotte de Fraiture introduces the session, highlighting the Water, Food and Energy & Water Resources and Ecosystems Health tracks. Explore keynote lectures, including ‘Revolutionizing water and agricultural resources’ by Hadeel Hosney and ‘Real-time control of water systems’ by Leonardo Alfonso.

More information about the MSc programme can be found here: https://edu.nl/wprj7

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

1 – IHE Delft : GERD sedimentation – the downstream impact by MSc Gofran . Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam ( GERD)

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22 Nov2023

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), with a total capacity of 74 billion cubic meters (BCM), is under construction in the upper Blue Nile River basin. Upon completion, it will become the largest hydropower dam in Africa and one of the top 10 globally. Several concerns have been raised about its potential downstream impacts, in particular regarding changes in the sediment load downstream. These can have positive and negative implications for the lifetime of downstream reservoirs, the quality of drinking and irrigation water, and river morphology.

In this seminar, IHE Delft MSc alumna Gofran Ahmed presented her MSc research, which focused on GERD sedimentation and its impact on the sedimentation of the Roseires Reservoir in Sudan. Roseires, located 15 km downstream from GERD, is the first reservoir on the Blue Nile Basin in Sudan and has a capacity of 7 BCM.

Ahmed collected data from measuring stations and used of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to generate sediment inflow time series to fill in data gaps. Her research focused on developing a dynamic trap efficiency computational scheme to simulate reservoir sedimentation, and her results provide a good understanding of the seasonal and annual sedimentation rate in the GERD and its implications for the sedimentation of the Roseires Reservoir.

Gofran Ahmed is a Teaching Assistant at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. She obtained her BSc in chemical engineering from the University of Khartoum, where she was recognized with awards for the best graduation project and best academic performance. In October 2023, she completed her MSc in Water and Sustainable Development at IHE Delft, with a digital innovation profile. Her areas of interest include machine learning, process simulation, and mathematical modelling. In addition, she has a keen interest in water quality and drinking water treatment.

Ahmed admires the role of education, applied research and community awareness. She aspires to make meaningful contributions to the academic field and raise awareness within her community.

2 – IHE Delft 💧 Alumni Online Seminar on IPCC AR6 WGI report: Sea level rise and Regional climate change

– 9 December 2021 , Key messages on Sea level rise and Regional Climate Change from IPCC ARG

The seminar by Prof. Roshanka Ranasinghe, Coordinating Lead Author of the IPCC AR6 WGI report, will summarise the key findings on Sea level rise and how 33 different climatic hazards (i.e. climatic impact-drivers) are projected to change in 44 different sub-regions of the world. Read more: https://www.un-ihe.org/alumni-on…

3 – IHE Delft 💧 Alumni Online Seminar Modelling human-flood interactions

The negative impacts of floods are attributed to the extent and magnitude of a flood hazard, and the vulnerability and exposure of natural and human elements. In flood risk management (FRM) studies, it is crucial to model the interaction between human and flood subsystems across multiple spatial, temporal and organizational scales. Models should address the heterogeneity that exists within the human subsystem, and incorporate social institutions that shape the behaviour of individuals.

This seminar provides an overview of the Coupled flood-Agent-Institution Modelling framework (CLAIM) and a methodology to build holistic FRM models that are capable of simulating coupled human-flood interactions. CLAIM integrates actors, institutions, the urban environment, hydrologic and hydrodynamic processes and external factors which affect FRM activities. The framework draws on the complex system perspective and conceptualizes the interaction of floods, humans and their environment as drivers of flood hazard, vulnerability and exposure. The human and flood subsystems are modelled using agent-based models and hydrodynamic models, respectively. The two models are dynamically coupled to understand human-flood interactions and to investigate the effect of social institutions on FRM policy analysis.

About the Speaker:

Dr Yared Abayneh Abebe is a Researcher in the H2020 project RECONECT at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. He is involved in developing models for planning and evaluating nature-based solutions that reduce hydro-meteorological risk.

Previously, Yared worked on a project that focused on flood risk reduction in Small Island Developing States. The project was part of the Regional Risk Reduction Initiative which was implemented by UNDP Barbados and the OECS. His main achievements include developing nearshore bathymetry using satellite and sonar data, modelling coastal and inland flooding, assessing flood hazard, vulnerability and risk and evaluating different structural and non-structural flood risk reduction measures.

Yared earned his PhD from TU Delft and IHE Delft in December 2020 with Cum Laude (Distinction). His thesis on modelling human-flood interactions was awarded the 2021 Technical Steven Hoogendijk Prize of the Batavian Society of Experimental Philosophy) after a jury selected the thesis as the best among 40 Cum Laude theses defended at TU Delft in the past two years. Profile link https://www.un-ihe.org/yared-aba…Chapters

4- IHE Delft 💧 Alumni Online Seminar: Nature based Solutions for Disaster and Climate Solutions

Webinar : October 8 ,2021 , Nature -based solutions for disaster and climate resilience

Description

IHE Delft 💧 Alumni Online Seminar: Nature based Solutions for Disaster and Climate Solutions

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

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1,197Views

20218 Oct

Topic: Nature-based solutions for disaster and climate resilience Speaker:

Dr. Zoran Vojinovic, Associate Professor of Urban Water Systems

Description:

The 8 October seminar, hosted by Dr. Zoran Vojinovic, focuses on hydro-meteorological risks such as severe floods, storm surges, landslides, avalanches, hail, windstorms, droughts, heat waves and forest fires – events that occur almost daily. Such events are expected become more frequent and severe due to climate change, degradation of ecosystems, population growth and urbanisation. Innovative solutions in which natural processes and ecosystems help solve different types of societal and environmental challenges – so-called Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) – have emerged as effective means to respond to such challenges. The seminar will focus on NBS and their application, using experience from one of the largest European Commission-funded NBS project RECONECT as examples.

Economic and other losses from natural disasters are increasing throughout the world. According to the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT), over the last 70 years, hydro-meteorological disasters have shown the fastest rate of increase of all disaster types. In parallel, technological capabilities to manage such disasters have advanced rapidly. This paradoxical situation can be viewed as a result of our disconnected developments underpinning broader global environmental and sustainability problems as well as our fragmented ways of dealing with natural disasters.

Using NBS for hydro-meteorological risk reduction and building climate-resilient landscapes offers the possibility to break away from traditional practices and enable to reconnect our land management practices and developments with nature in order to achieve multiple benefits to ecosystem services and functions of ecosystems. However, cost-effective design and implementation of NBS is only part of the answer – these solutions need to be adapted to diverse local and cultural contexts and integrated into broader land and risk management strategies. They require holistic perspectives and frameworks. At this time, there are no examples of successful NBS use to reduce hydro-meteorological risk and increase climate resilience that can be upscaled and replicated. There is a clear need for effective demonstration and evaluation of NBS to build an evidence base.

IHE Delft – Alumni Online Semonar : Turning Sea Water into Fresh water by Sergio Salinas

About the Speaker: Zoran Vojinovic is Associate Professor at IHE Delft with expertise in Urban Water Systems, Risk Assessment, Climate Change Adaptation and Hydroinformatics. He is the author/co-author of a book series in Urban Hydroinformatics. He is Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter, Adjunct Professor at the National Cheng Kung University, Visiting Professor at the University of Belgrade and Guest Faculty at the Asian Institute of Technology. He serves as the Project leader for the RECONECT project.

Although our planet has sufficient fresh water to achieve a regular and clean water supply for all, poor economics and infrastructure can skew supply unfavourably. Desalination as a method to provide clean drinking water has become vital – particularly in a context where drought, water scarcity and rapid quality decrease of water bodies have become an undeniable reality. This webinar is a very first introduction to the field of desalination, which engineering professionals and students may use as a stepping stone in furthering their education in this topic. It discusses the drivers for desalination, the current desalination trends worldwide, the energy consumption and costs. Speaker Dr. Sergio Salinas is a desalination and water treatment technology professional and university lecturer, with experience in Latin America, Middle East, and Europe. Sergio has a PhD in Desalination and Water Treatment from the Technical University of Delft, an MSc in Water Supply Engineering from UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, a Master’s in Irrigation and Drainage and a BSc in Civil Engineering from San Simon Major University. He also obtained the University Teaching Qualification in the Netherlands. He has over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings in the areas of seawater and brackish water desalination, water treatment, water reuse, and natural organic matter characterization.IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

4- IHE Delft : Alumni Online Seminar “ Understanding Mangrove Coasts for a Climate -Resilience Future “

About the seminar
The world’s coasts are at risk, with climate change making severe weather events that pound coastal communities more frequent and fiercer. Mangrove forests offer protection, but they, too, are vulnerable to human-made actions. Many need to be restored, others protected.

Sebrian Beselly Putra recently was awarded a PhD for research that can help mangrove restoration succeed. He will present the main outcomes of his research, which involved developing a method to model mangrove forests’ trajectory and wetland development. His promotor, Dano Roelvink, and co-promotor, Mick van der Wegen, will discuss developments in mangrove and coastal research.

Programme:
· Mick van der Wegen: Importance of mangroves and assessment of sea level rise impacts
· Sebrian Beselly Putra: Simulating mangrove-mudflat dynamics with a hybrid eco-hydro-morphodynamic model – optimizing mangroves’ carbon sequestration potential
· Dano Roelvink: Towards large-scale, long-term modelling of mangrove coastlines.

About the Speakers

Dani Roelvink has 36 years of experience in coastal engineering and research. He has participated as team member and as project manager in a number of major consultancy projects related to coastal morphology. He has managed the development of the Delft3D model system for two- and three-dimensional simulation of waves, currents, water quality, ecology and morphodynamics, and contributed significantly to the morphological part of this system. He has been actively involved in the EU-sponsored MaST-G6M and MaST-G8M, SASME, COAST3D, DELOS and MICORE research projects on coastal morphodynamics and recently participated in Risc-KIT.

Mick van der Wegen combines high-level academic research with an extensive (inter)national network and a strong education track record. His major field of expertise relates to estuarine dynamics, morphodynamic modeling and integrated coastal zone management. Mick joined IHE Delft as a researcher after his MSc, and in 2010 earned his PhD degree entitled “Modeling morphodynamic evolution in alluvial estuaries” from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in 2010. In 2012, he became an Associate Professor at IHE Delft. He also works for Deltares since.

Sebrian Beselly Putra is Lecturer and Researcher in Coastal and Urban Hazards and Risk at IHE Delft. His specialization is in coastal eco-morphodynamics, coastal eco-geomorphological modelling, interactions of mangroves and coastal ecosystems, and coastal remote sensing analysis. Sebrian completed his PhD degree at IHE Delft and TU Delft. In his thesis ‘The Mangrove Tale: Mechanistic Modelling of Mangrove-Eco-Geomorphic Interactions’ he developed a better understanding of complex eco-geomorphic interactions and feedback processes in the evolution of coastal mangrove environments. He used a newly developed model (DFMFON) to resolve the feedback processes between hydro-morphodynamic forcing (waves, tides, river flow, sediment supply, salinity, and morphodynamics) and mangrove life stages ranging from (the dispersal of) propagules to the development of seedlings and saplings into mature trees. Read an interview with Serbian

5 – IHE Delft : Alumni Online Seminar : Coastal Evolution and Management by Prof Roelvink

Dano Roelvink, Professor of Coastal Engineering and Port Development at IHE Delft, presents this edition of the alumni online seminar on ‘coastal evolution and management: a new tool to understand the past and future’.

Sandy beaches are extremely valuable natural resources, providing a first line of defense against coastal storm impacts, as well as other ecosystem services such as ecological habitats and recreation areas. They often are an important part of nations’ heritage. However, many of the world’s coastlines suffer erosion, due to interruption of sand flows from upstream and alongshore, sand mining and sea-level rise effects, especially in the vicinity of tidal inlets. As a result, the safety of ever-increasing populations against hazards such as overtopping, inundation and erosion is seriously undermined.

A lack of reliable, widely usable models makes it difficult to develop sound, science-based strategies for managing complex sandy coasts. While the physics of beaches have been studied extensively and Delft has a strong reputation in developing useful models that are used worldwide, these are often too complex and time-expensive to use for engineering application at larger scales; other models are too simple to represent interesting cases such as sandy barriers, spits, spiral beaches and migrating tidal inlets and river mouths.

At IHE Delft, in collaboration with Deltares, we have recently developed a radically new method, ShorelineS, to hindcast and forecast coastline evolution. Though it is based on a relatively simple representation of wave-driven transport, the representation of the coastline as strings of coastline points that can freely develop and move about gives is a powerful behaviour that allows us to rapidly model coastal planform evolution, for cases ranging from the development of the Sand Engine to development of spits and from a moving river mouth in Senegal to moving barrier islands in Portugal and Alaska.

Input and calibration data for such modelling are available at an unprecedented scale (e.g. satellite imagery-derived coastlines) alongside ever more detailed global models and datasets of forcing conditions (wave climate, tides). This allows you to develop and calibrate a model of your own situation based on past observations, and then to simulate the future given a range of scenarios.

Though still under development, we believe a system can be developed where engaged citizens can analyse and simulate the coastal development in their areas, can see how human impact has altered their coast and what are sensible strategies to cope with increasing population pressure and climate change.

In the webinar I will first take you on a little tour along typical coasts, where we’ll see how even before climate change is kicking in we are facing serious problems, and how this may be exacerbated by sea level rise and changes in wind and wave climate. But, being engineers, we will not rest there, but try to work with a mix of solutions, hard and soft, nature-based where possible. I’ll show how a model like ShorelineS can play an important role in the evaluation of the problem and of possible solutions and I’d like to pick your brain on how you envisage tools like this being used, and what ideas you have for directions they could develop towards.

More information about the speaker is available here: https://www.un-ihe.org/dano-roel…

6: – IHE Delft : Alumni Online Seminar / Re- Operating Dams for the Environment-Practices and Oppotrunities

Title: Re-operating Dams for the Environment: Practices & Opportunities
Speaker: Dr Afua Owusu

About the seminar
Many rivers worldwide have been progressively engineered for agriculture, energy, transportation, flood control and navigation. Dams, in particular, have played a major role in controlling and harnes

About the speaker
Dr Afua Owusu, IHE Delft PhD Alumna, works at the International Water Management Institute as Postdoctoral Researcher, and is Associate Editor at Hydrological Sciences Journal. She is the Winner of the 2023 Falkenmark Award for best PhD thesis.
As a researcher specializing in hydrology and water resources management, Afua is part of the Hydroinformatics group at the International Water Management Institute, utilizing advanced remote sensing methods and data processing technologies to produce insights into water availability, usage, and sustainable limits to use. Afua completed her PhD on ‘The Practice and Opportunitiesr in Re-operating Dams for the Environment’ at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education and TU Delft in November 2022 and received the inaugural 2023 Falkenmark Award from the International Association of Hydrological Sciences for her research. Her research portfolio encompasses diverse projects such as environmental flows implementation, suitability mapping of solar pumps for irrigation, and the development of decision support systems for on-farm water storage sizing.

IHE Delft : Alumni Online Seminar / … “ Understanding Mangrove Coasts for a Climate -Resilient Future

About the seminar
The world’s coasts are at risk, with climate change making severe weather events that pound coastal communities more frequent and fiercer. Mangrove forests offer protection, but they, too, are vulnerable to human-made actions. Many need to be restored, others protected.

Sebrian Beselly Putra recently was awarded a PhD for research that can help mangrove restoration succeed. He will present the main outcomes of his research, which involved developing a method to model mangrove forests’ trajectory and wetland development. His promotor, Dano Roelvink, and co-promotor, Mick van der Wegen, will discuss developments in mangrove and coastal research.

Programme:
· Mick van der Wegen: Importance of mangroves and assessment of sea level rise impacts
· Sebrian Beselly Putra: Simulating mangrove-mudflat dynamics with a hybrid eco-hydro-morphodynamic model – optimizing mangroves’ carbon sequestration potential
· Dano Roelvink: Towards large-scale, long-term modelling of mangrove coastlines.

About the Speakers
Dano Roelvink has 36 years of experience in coastal engineering and research. He has participated as team member and as project manager in a number of major consultancy projects related to coastal morphology. He has managed the development of the Delft3D model system for two- and three-dimensional simulation of waves, currents, water quality, ecology and morphodynamics, and contributed significantly to the morphological part of this system. He has been actively involved in the EU-sponsored MaST-G6M and MaST-G8M, SASME, COAST3D, DELOS and MICORE research projects on coastal morphodynamics and recently participated in Risc-KIT.

Mick van der Wegen combines high-level academic research with an extensive (inter)national network and a strong education track record. His major field of expertise relates to estuarine dynamics, morphodynamic modeling and integrated coastal zone management. Mick joined IHE Delft as a researcher after his MSc, and in 2010 earned his PhD degree entitled “Modeling morphodynamic evolution in alluvial estuaries” from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in 2010. In 2012, he became an Associate Professor at IHE Delft. He also works for Deltares since.

Sebrian Beselly Putra is Lecturer and Researcher in Coastal and Urban Hazards and Risk at IHE Delft. His specialization is in coastal eco-morphodynamics, coastal eco-geomorphological modelling, interactions of mangroves and coastal ecosystems, and coastal remote sensing analysis. Sebrian completed his PhD degree at IHE Delft and TU Delft. In his thesis ‘The Mangrove Tale: Mechanistic Modelling of Mangrove-Eco-Geomorphic Interactions’ he developed a better understanding of complex eco-geomorphic interactions and feedback processes in the evolution of coastal mangrove environments. He used a newly developed model (DFMFON) to resolve the feedback processes between hydro-morphodynamic forcing (waves, tides, river flow, sediment supply, salinity, and morphodynamics) and mangrove life stages ranging from (the dispersal of) propagules to the development of seedlings and saplings into mature trees. Read an interview with Sebrian.