| NBCBN-RE E-newsletter August 2009 | ||
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Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing in: Water Resources & Environmental Management (Rwanda , Burundi and D.R. Congo)
(NUR) Campus , Kigali The workshop aims to serve the researchers and professionals of three neighbor countries, Rwanda, Burundi and D.R. Congo, in sharing their knowledge and to develop collaborative training and research activities. Also since NBCBN is looking for cooperation with other ongoing initiatives and projects serving capacity building needs in the basin, the workshop will be jointly organized with the UNESCO-IHE Water Resources and Environmental Management (WREM) Project with the National University of Rwanda (NUR). The main objective of this joint regional workshop is to support the three participating countries scientifically with state of the art knowledge on important topics related to their local research activities, also to discuss the common problems facing professionals and researchers working in the water sector in these countries and to develop specific capacity building programs to serve their common needs. The workshop will focus on some relevant research themes within the scope of NBCBN. The following topics are proposed:
More Information on the event will be on NBCBN website soon. |
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Nile Water Science & Engineering Journal Volume 3: Call for Abstracts NBCBN-SEC would like to announce the call for abstracts for the Third volume of the Nile Water Science & Engineering Journal. In this context we would like to highlight that the room is open for research papers related to the different research topics that represents the network research modalities, in addition to other research topics dealing with water resources management. It would be a good opportunity for NBCBN members, as we are approaching the final stage of research activities, to start sending their abstracts to take the chance of publishing their research work in the next volume! NBCBN-Sec will start to receive the abstracts from next week. All authors are kindly requested to Use the online submission and review system developed for the Journal and which will be officially used from this volume. For more information on this developed system and how to use it, please visit http://magazine.nbcbn.com |
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Links with Ongoing Projects in the Basin: FRIEND NILE
NBCBN as a pioneer network in the Nile basin is always seeking collaboration and cooperation with ongoing projects and research activities in the Nile basin. Knowledge sharing is not only intended to be within the network nodes and clusters but also to go beyond and open doors for sharing knowledge with other projects and initiatives. Since the launch of the Network in 2001, NBCBN was keen to include FRIEND NILE in the network strategic meetings and workshops to discuss possible cooperation in research activities and to open links for cooperation between two projects, since we have common vision which is technical and scientific collaboration between Nile basin countries. Therefore, NBCBN initiated in one of the recent workshops of the FN project that was held in Cairo, June 2009 some ideas for cooperation with some of the ongoing research components of FN project. One of the ideas for cooperation is to explore the possible links between the two research themes; River Engineering and hydrological studies so the two projects can have joint publications based on exiting similar case studies. Another idea is to organize joint workshops in the near future to discuss research findings and lessons learned and possible future cooperation. Being a successful project in the basin, the network agreed with FN project Manager, to include FN project research teams very soon on the Nile Basin Knowledge Map (KM.NBCBN.COM). NBCBN is looking forward to further cooperation activities with FN Project in the near future. |
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Overview on NBCBN Research Activities River Structures Research Cluster Sedimentation is a prevalent problem at many water intakes on rivers transporting sediments. It reduces withdrawal capacity of intakes. In practice, sediment exclusion in front of intakes is given minimal attention or overlooked. This can be due to lack of understanding of the effect of sediments on the water conveyance and other downstream structures or lack of the know-how to investigate the related problems. This is so especially in the case of various water resources projects in developing countries. This group is one of the two groups under the river structures cluster; the cluster is hosted by Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. The cluster scientific advisor is Prof. Petru Boeriu, The group is coordinated by Dr. Dereje Hailu, Addis Ababa University, and the group composition is as below:
The research goals are: to investigate the utility of the vane technique for sediment management at water intakes using physical modeling. The second goal is to investigate the effect of submerged bottom vanes on reduction in sediment load carried into the intake using a numerical model for the physical model set-up. The third goal is to come up with the optimum height and angle of placement of the bottom vanes which result in the maximum reduction of sediment load. During the 5th regional workshop of the River Structures Research Cluster that was held in Addis Ababa February 2009, a recommendation from the cluster members to organise a specialised training course on the Modelling support to Hydraulic Engineering in River Basin Development was highlighted. Based on this recommendation and the importance of the topics addressed during discussions, The Nile Basin Capacity Building Network Secretariat (NBCBN-SEC) took the initiation to organize this course. NBCBN-SEC and the River Structure Research Cluster hosted by Addis Ababa University in cooperation with the Hydraulics Research Institute (HRI), the hosting institute of NBCBN-SEC, jointly organised the above mentioned Regional Training Course in the period from 13th to 16th July 2009. The course was held in the Regional Training Center of the Hydraulics Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt. Participants from: Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and D. R. Congo attended the course. The course used the existing experiences of HRI researchers and research facilities in the physical modeling applications in the organization and facilitation of the course. |
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Dr. Karima joined NBCBN since the launch of the GIS AND modelling research cluster in 2003. She is one of the most active researchers in NBCBN clusters , since NBCBN second phase that started in 2006, She acts as the research coordinator of the group working on: “GIS Based Decision Support Tool for Sustainable Development of SUDD Marshes Region (SUDAN)” . She also has an active role as a national coordinator of one of NBI Projects titled “Flood preparedness and early warning, Fast track project, Nile Basin initiative, Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO). NBCBN-SEC wishes to Dr.Karima all the best in her research activities under the GIS and Modeling research Cluster For More Information on NBCBN Members please visit: |
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Believing in the importance and the need of capacity building activities including research and training in the three network nodes Rwanda - Burundi - D.R. Congo, NBCBN took the initiation to organize a joint workshop for the three countries. The workshop will focus on “Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing in: Water Resources & Environmental Management”. The event will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 1st -3rd December, 2009. 
The FRIEND/Nile (FN) project, initiated by UNESCO in early 1996, aims at improving the international river basin management of the Nile through improved scientific cooperation among the Nile countries in the field of water resources management and regional scale analysis of hydrological regimes. Networking activities and collaboration between the participating institutes is a major component of the FN Project. Within this framework, UNESCO intends to facilitate training and scientific meetings through the proposed project, as well as provide the participants with up-to-date data handling and modelling software in the fields of interest. The Project has benefited from the help of the Flanders Science Fund-In-Trust Project since 2001. Five components were established and assigned to four Nile countries: Egypt coordinates the two components Flood Frequency Analysis and Training and Capacity Building; Kenya coordinates Drought and Low Flow Analysis; Sudan coordinates Sediment Transport and Watershed Management; and Tanzania coordinates Rainfall and Runoff Modelling. Each component has a team of five researchers from Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania. In the current phase of the project another component on Eco-hydrology is added and coordinated by Uganda.
Name: Prof. Dr. Karima Mahmoud Attia