Written by Mekong Institute

The Mekong Institute was commissioned by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to conduct a regional training course on Integrated Water Resources Management for the Mekong from 20 to 31 July 2009 in Khon Kaen, Thailand.

Eight young riparian professionals of the MRCs Junior Riparian Professional Project and four MI staff from Young Greater Mekong Sub-region Professional Program (YGMS) participated in this Learning Program. Among the twelve participants, only two were women.

The overall objective of the course is to provide the participants with knowledge and skills related to the IWRM in the context of Mekong Cooperation. At the end of this training course, the participants were expected to demonstrate their ability in applying IWRM principle and IWRM planning tools in their work and at the same time acquire three cross-cutting competencies: Communication skills, information management ability, and facilitation capabilities

The training program comprised of seven training modules:

• Module 1: Introduction to IWRM and WRM Functions at the River Basin Scale
• Module 2: Mekong Water and Peoples
• Module 3: Development Potentials and Major Issues in Basin Planning in the Mekong River Basin
• Module 4: Stakeholder Participation
• Module 5: Basin Planning for Water Resources
• Module 6: Using Indicators to Measure Progress and Performance
• Module 7: The Role of Basin Planners and Core Competencies

All seven modules were delivered using a modular training approach, of which, all participants underwent three progressive learning stages: Learn to do, do to learn and share to learn. As part of this training program, a field study to Houi Sam Mo Sub-river Basin was organized for the participants to have first hand information on Integrated River Basin Planning and exposed to Thailand river basin organizational arrangement. This watershed was selected as a field site because it is a pilot project of MRC/GTZ Watershed Management Program and it is regarded as one of integrated river basin management models.

This learning program is proven very successful. This is evidenced by the results of pre and post training assessments and end-of-program evaluation. Participants expressed their appreciation for MI innovative training approaches, especially on the use of case studies, simulation exercises, videos, and field works as integral parts of their learning experience.