As part of the two-day Meeting of Regional Partners in Water and Wastewater, the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C), the United Nations Environment Programme, Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU) and the Global Environment Facility’s Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management (GEF CReW) partnered to host a specialKnowledge Sharing Session on New Tools and Resources for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Caribbean.
The Knowledge Sharing Session which took place on April 29th, 2014 in Barbados sought to highlight and launch recently developed Caribbean IWRM knowledge products which focus on tools geared toward building climate resilience in the Caribbean water sector, as well as, resources for wastewater sector professionals.
Key to the event was the launch of tools and knowledge products developed under the Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation Tool (CCORAL)-Water initiative. The CCORAL-Water initiative is a key part of the GWP-C Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP). The initiative is a joint collaboration between the GWP-C and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), funded by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) with the main aim of providing practical and user-friendly tools for climate resilient decision-making for the Caribbean water sector. Moreover, the initiative builds upon the CCORAL, an online support system for climate resilient decision-making; a platform hosted by the CCCCC.
The Knowledge Sharing Session provided the ideal platform to launch various resources developed under the CCORAL-Water initiative which included:
A Sourcebook for the Caribbean Water Sector entitled“Achieving Development Resilient to Climate Change”
Four (4) Information Briefs on the following:
1. A summary of the Sourcebook
2. Using the CCORAL in the context of water management
3. Financing climate resilience in the water sector
4. No low regret options for climate resilience
Speaking at the Knowledge Sharing Session was Dr. Natalie Boodram, Programme Manager of the GWP-C WACDEP who provided a short overview of the WACDEP and linked the Programme’s work to carrying out some of GWP-C’s key objectives such as:
Information Dissemination and Collation
Knowledge Sharing and Communication
Awareness Building on IWRM in the Caribbean
Capacity Building and Training
Embodied in her remarks to participants at the event, was a clear overview of the benefits of the tools and resources developed under the CCORAL-Water initiative (Sourcebook and Information Briefs) and she explained that the initiative supports the implementation of the Regional Framework for Achieving Development Resilient to Climate Change.
In her presentation, she also gave participants a prelude to a Caribbean Water and Climate Knowledge Platform currently being developed by the GWP-C under its WACDEP. She explained that the Knowledge Platform will be a major resource intended to incorporate:
WACDEP tools and resources
Databases with IWRM projects in the Caribbean; regional expertise in water; non-traditional funding sources
Other Caribbean resources and tools in water, climate and related sectors
Information briefs
Case studies
Videos and manuals on IWRM as a tool for adaptation to climate change and other related information
Ms. Pippa Heylings, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) also delivered remarks at the event, stating how pleased CDKN was with the execution and development of the various tools for the Caribbean water sector under the CCORAL-Water initiative.
The Knowledge Sharing Session also featured a presentation from Mr. Keith Nichols, Programme Development Specialist at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) who gave participants a comprehensive introduction to the Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation Tool (CCORAL) developed by the CCCCC.
The Session was also able to showcase a variety of tools and resources from the United Nations Environment Programme, Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU) and the Global Environment Facility’s Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management (GEF CReW). These resources included: wastewater videos, materials, manuals, case studies, models, databases and more.
There was no doubt that the special Knowledge Sharing Session unveiled new tools and resources for the Caribbean water sector and also built awareness on the availability of these resources and how they can be accessed. The Session saw the participation of over thirty (30) representatives from national and regional organisations in water and related sectors. Additionally, all participants at the event received GWP-C folders with information on its Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) and a flashdrive with the soft-copy versions of the Sourcebook and technical briefs that were launched at the event.
The GWP-C under its Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) plans to make information on existing tools and resources to support the water sector available on its Caribbean Water and Climate Knowledge Platform which it intends to launch in June 2014. Further, persons will be able to download the Sourcebook for the Caribbean Water Sector and associated information briefs from the GWP-C website in June.
Related Link:
Watch this short video featuring Dr. Natalie Boodram, Programme Manager of the GWP-C Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP), Mr. Keith Nichols, Programme Development Specialist at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and Ms. Pippa Heylings, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) as they discuss the launch of the Sourcebook for the Caribbean Water Sector and the four (4) associated information briefs and the importance of water in building climate resilience. Click here to watch the video.
