ANNUAL REPORT 2013 NICHE/VNM/106en.hunre.edu.vn/hunre-en/userfiles/file/VNM-106 - 2013.pdf · a...

ANNUAL REPORT 2013 NICHE/VNM/106

The Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development

in Higher Education (NICHE)

Project Annual Report 2013

The Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

Project data

1.1. Country Vietnam

1.2. Project name/acronym Improvement of Higher Education in Water

Management in view of Climate Change in Vietnam

1.3. Nuffic project number (code) NICHE-VNM-106

1.4. Implementing organisations TU Delft (lead)

UNESCO-IHE

University of Twente –ITC

Deltares

1.5. Project period January 2012 –January 2016

1.6. Total project budget

- NICHE contribution 2.376.396

- Contribution from requesting

organisation - From WRU/MARD: EUR 125,000 - From HUNRE/MONRE: Euro 125,000

- Other funding Co-funding from implementing organisations

1.7. Reporting year 2013

1.8. Annual report number 2

1.9. Previous annual plan submitted on October 2012 and October 2013

List of abbreviations BSc Bachelor of Science

CE Coastal Engineering

DM Disaster Management

HUNRE Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment

ICZM Integrated Coastal Zone Management

IWRM Integrated Water Resources Management

IWRM Integrated Water Resources Management

MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

MOET Ministry of Education and Technology

MoNRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

MSc Master of Science

WRU Water Resources University

3.47 Format Annual Report – Version 2.0 1


Project progress and achievements This report elaborates on the progress made in the NICHE project on Improvement of higher education in water management in view of climate change in Vietnam, with the aim to strengthen the capacity of the Water Resources University (WRU) and the Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment (HUNRE) at institutional and management level to implement education, research and training and to improve the capacity of their staff in developing and transferring knowledge (NICHE-VNM106). The project is well on schedule. In 2013 the first MSc course in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) started at WRU and preparations are made for the start of the other MSc’s at WRU in April 2014 and at HUNRE in September 2014. Most activities proposed in the annual plan 2013 did take place as scheduled. Only a few activities have been postponed to 2014 and a few other items in the planning for 2013 have been adjusted (mainly in the investment plan). This has been described in detail in the Annual Plan for 2014, which was submitted in October 2013. A brief description of the progress per planned output is given below: I. Strategy & Planning: Output 1-A: at HUNRE In April 2013 a mission took place by Dr. Don Westerheijden and Dr. Leon Cremonini, CHEPS, University of Twente. During the mission a 2 days workshop was organised at HUNRE about strategic management with senior leadership of HUNRE. At HUNRE, a draft strategic document had already been developed. It was much further than we could glean from the English summary. The process of discussing the draft in a workshop with wide circles of stakeholders, seemed quite sensible. HUNRE has obtained ISO9000 certification for ‘training of bachelor degree’, based on its systematic implementation of a semestral student satisfaction survey (not for individual courses). Much like WRU, HUNRE encounters problems transforming the survey data into usable management information. Output 1-B: at WRU During the same mission a 1,5 day workshop about quality assurance was organised at WRU. and the links there ought to be (and that could be built) between internal quality assurance and strategic management of the university was discussed. Participants involved officers/administrators in quality assurance, but also academic managers and leaders of the university. At WRU, the uses and limitations of ISO9000 certification were showed for internal quality assurance and quality improvement. Yet there is a fear that other (e.g. private) universities might achieve marketing advantages with ISO9000 certification of partial quality assurance that seems to suggest all of the university is ‘high-quality’. Both workshops confirmed the need for more extended and more hands-on training on quality assurance processes and techniques. We propose a train-the-trainer mode as the most efficient and cost-effective way to conduct such workshops in a follow-up project. Mission Dr. Wim Douven, UNESCO-IHE to Vietnam

Dr. Wim Douven, UNESCO-IHE, visited WRU during 17-22 November 2014. His mission corresponds to strategy and planning. The main focus of the mission was to contribute in the development of the Msc programs for 2014-2015 session, and specifically support in further development of common modules across the three Master Programs. During his visit he also guided Hien and Ilyas in IWRM programme and steered further discussion and feasibility study on double degree programme between WRU and IHE on water management.



II. Institutional Strengthening & Capacity Building: Output 2-A: at HUNRE HUNRE staff has received several training and education in 2013: e.g. English language courses in Vietnam, courses at TU Delft and coaching visit to the Netherlands. A regional training to Singapore did not take place in 2013, due to a lack of suitable courses for HUNRE staff at NUS. (also because of lack of English capacity of staff). The librarians of HUNRE (and WRU) came to The Netherlands for a visit to the main libraries (TU Delft, UNESCo-IHE, ITC, Royal Library, Utrecht, ). Also several missions to Hanoi took place by Marga Koelen to give advice to the HUNRE library. A group of 7 HUNRE staff members have started the IWRM MSc programme at WRU. Senior HUNRE staff will be involved in guiding those 7 students/junior staff members. The 7 new teachers will be teaching in the new HUNRE BSc IWRM programme after their graduation at WRU. The investment component was discussed in detail with HUNRE during the steering committee meeting in August 2013. The Steering Committee agreed to spend the investment budget as follows: hardware (incl. GIS lab), Software (Music and SOBEK) and investment in the network. The GIS and RS software was not approved and suggestions were made to make use of open source software. Al agreed items have been purchased and are installed at the university. A gender awareness training workshop was organised by the Centre for Women and Development, Vietnam Women’s Union. The workshop was evaluated very high and HUNRE would like to organise a follow-up in 2014. A detailed report is available with the team. Output 2-B: embedding the new MSc programmes in strategy at WRU WRU staff has received some training and education in 2013: e.g. short courses at UNESCO-IHE and ITC, distance education modules at ITC and UNESCO-IHE.

Eight staff members (5 female and 3 male) of WRU attended six short courses offered by UNESCO-IHE Four staff visited UNESCO-IHE Delft to attend the four courses. The two online courses were followed by four staff members as the distant learning programs. The experiences indicated that the courses followed in Delft were comparatively more effective as staff could fully dedicate their time and concentration while in Delft as compared to following the online courses while in Vietnam when they need to fulfil many other job responsibilities.

The equipment budget was mainly used to upgrade the library and for some fieldwork equipment. The implementation of the new package is closely monitored by our librarian and constantly feed-back is given. Trainings were organised in Hanoi for library staff and scientific staff and the librarians came to The Netherlands to learn from the experiences from the academic libraries in The Netherlands. WRU organised several gender training activities in 2013 related to “Gender issues of sustainable water development in the context of climate change.

Specifically: - Material presentation - Lectures for MSc student (20 MSc studnets) - Gender workshop for faculty staff (50 staff)

The activities were guided by Dr. Tran Thu Thuy, Head of Administration Office – Vietnam Women’s Union.



III. Curriculum & course development Result 3-A C & C development at HUNRE: After defining the detailed objectives and setting the larger agenda for IWRM curriculum development in the first year of the project, further steps in building the curriculum were taken in 2013. In early spring 2013, three Delft experts (Ertsen, Rutten and Marchand) went to HUNRE, to discuss the IWRM curriculum and related topics, and to work on case study development. The final curriculum was defined, including the key courses that need most attention and effort. A suitable case study area was found around Vinh Yen, in the province Vinh Phuc. In this area, urbanisation and demands on the water system provide interesting issues to study. In late spring 2013, two Delft experts (Rutten and Kreijns) accompanied by Twente expert Koelen visited HUNRE, this time to discuss the necessary investments to ensure that the learning and teaching activities needed in the new IWRM program could be supported by the educational infrastructure. Around this visit, local networking was realized by joining the Delta 2013 conference in Ho Chi Minh City. Furthermore, in late spring, the tailor made course for three HUNRE staff members (Hoang Thi Nguyet Minh, Le Viet Hùng and Duong Du Bui) in Delft was prepared. The HUNRE staff visited Delft in the first half of September for an intensive program of curriculum and course development. Course structures were developed and a first step was taken towards defining and preparing study materials. These and other issues, including the planning for 2014, were taken up again in the last visit of Delft experts in fall 2013, when Rutten and Kreijns visited HUNRE. Delft and HUNRE staff also participated in the symposium Vietnam wAter Cooperation Initiative for livable cities (VACI 2013) organized by HUNRE. Preparations and activities in 2013 will allow focusing on preparing the courses and other educational facilities in 2014, for a successful start of the IWRM program at HUNRE.

3-A-2 Joint curriculum design & development BSc course 'IWRM'

• Curriculum is finalized after discussions held during visit of Martine Rutten and Maurits Ertsen in March 2013 and additional email discussions

3-A.3 Material preparation • Case study material is developed by Marcel Marchant and TUDelft student group.

Implementation of this material in the curricula has been discussed during visit in March 2013 • Additional material was prepared in Tailor Made Training September 2014

All mission reports of the IWRM HUNRE team, all detailed information on the developed modules and details on the developed case study are available with the project manager for information. Several mission to Hanoi were combined with other projects and costs could be shared.



Output 3-B: at WRU General activities in 2013 With the general framework in place of all three programs, the main challenges during 2013 were to define a) the detailed contents of each program topic and to assign teaching staff, and b) to draft a common course-schedule framework to ensure that the common topics would be given at the right place in each of the three programs. The first half of 2013 was dedicated to the first challenge and the second challenge was addressed during the Steering Committee meeting in August 2013. The remainder of the year was used to guide and support the teaching staff in developing the actual course contents for all programmes. MSc-IWRM curriculum and course development: Nine students were admitted to the first batch of Master Program in IWRM. After completing the admission procedures, the program started in April 2013. The program is running smoothly. All students have successfully completed their course work. The list of courses offered is given in Table 1. The courses were jointly prepared by UNESCO-IHE and WRU. The courses were mainly delivered by WRU faculty, with some input (Guest Lecturing) from UNESCO-IHE staff (Dr. Marloes Mul and Dr. Ilyas Masih). The given courses covered wide range of relevant topics on IWRM and climate change. The program provided good coverage on participatory water resources management including gender. The courses also provide strong foundation and advanced knowledge and skills on hydrology and water resources system analysis and integrated management under current and future climate.

The participants are now moved on to thesis research phase. They are currently (from January, 2014) working on MSc thesis research (currently working on research proposal development). The proposed thesis topics for each participant are enlisted in Table 2 along with names of the participants and the supervisors.

Mission Dr. Nguyen Thu Hien, WRU to Netherlands Dr. Hien, coordinator IWRM program, WRU, visited Netherlands during 16-26 July, 2013. The visit contributed to: (i) Planning of the courses offered during semester-II, (ii) review of the elective courses resulting in changes in the elective modules. (see Table 1 for the revised courses: Module on Negotiation and Mediation is replaced with Transboundary Water Management; Module on Advance River Hydraulics is replaced with Flood Risk Management; Module on Advanced Water System Modelling is replaced with Modelling and Operation of River Systems; and Module on Advanced Hydrology is replaced with Applied Ground Water Modelling.), (iii) exchange of ideas and course material related to the modules on research methodology, field visit, group work and MSc thesis research, (iv) Meetings with Project leader (Marjan, TU Delft) and UNESCO-IHE staff (Marloes, Ilyas, Erik, Wim, Jaap and Pieter) about the program progress and future planning, and (v) exploring ideas on double degree program in Water Management between WRU and UNESCO-IHE.

Mission Dr. Ilyas Masih, UNESCO-IHE to Vietnam

Dr. Ilyas, coordinator IWRM program, UNESCO-IHE, visited WRU Vietnam during 17-30 November, 2013. The visit contributed to: (i) working with staff/program coordinators from TU, ITC, WRU related to all the four MSc Program to develop common modules and curriculum outline for 2014-2015 session, (ii) contribution to the design of the program website and brochure, (iii) review of progress of IWRM program and future planning (education, thesis research), (iv) contribution to teaching in the module watershed and river basin management, (v) familiarization with project collaborators and IWRM MSc participants, as Dr. Ilyas joined the project in July 2013 replacing Dr. Marloes Mul.

Mission Prof. Pieter van der Zaag, UNESCO-IHE to Vietnam Prof. Pieter van der Zaag, UNESCO-IHE, visited WRU and HUNRE, Vietnam, during 25-30 August, 2013. The main aim of his mission was to participate in the steering committee meeting. He also held several meetings with leading staff members from WRU and HUNRE to discuss the project activities and future options. His visit contributed specifically to the discussion and planning on: (i) MSc programs to be started in 2014 (new programs on Disaster Management and Coastal Engineering and Management, and ongoing IWRM program) including mode of delivery (full time or part time), (ii) Marketing strategy to attract students, (iii) development of the common modules.



MSc-CE/ICZM curriculum and course development: Mission Dr. Erik de Ruyter van Steveninck, UNESCO-IHE to Vietnam

Dr. Erik de Ruyter, visited WRU, Vietnam, during 17-22 November 2013. He held series of meeting with staff of WRU to discuss the contents of the MSc programs in Coastal Engineering/Coastal Zone Management. Moreover, he contributed to planning for 2014 including development of common modules, program website and brochure. A separate activity report has been submitted by Dr. Erik de Ruyter..

Dr Tran Thanh Tung and Dr Thieu Quang Tuan visited the Netherlands from October 14-17, 2013. During this visit the curriculum for the Coastal Engineering/Coastal Zone Management programme has been discussed and finalised, together with Henk Jan Verhagen (TUD).

Together with the Vietnamese partners we have prepared in detail the curriculum for the CE/CZM course. After several discussions, the decision was to make one course with a specialisation in either CZM or CE. Apart from that, students may select a number of elective courses.

For all courses lecturers have been selected. Material has been made available for the various lecturers to prepare their own lecture notes. The material consists of texts for lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations and other audio-visual material.

For preparation of the research part various items have been purchased, notably the IH-VOF computer package from IC-Cantabria. This package is intended to be used for the elaboration of data from the Holland flume1 by MSc students during their research work.

Also a set of wave loggers has been purchased in order to measure waves during field work. These loggers have been delivered and tested in Vietnam. Until this moment only test measurements have been done with the loggers.

Assistance has been given in the drafting of the brochures for the new courses. Examples of brochures from TU Delft and Unesco-IHE have been provided to be used as basis for the Vietnamese brochures.

Prof Jonkman has visited Hanoi in November to discuss the programme, content and course structure. Also the research phase within the MSc education was discussed in detail. Prof Jonkman also gave guest lectures in the programme and in the short course which was organised at the same moment.

1 The Holland flume has been made available to WRU in a previous project, and is now used for research. In the MSc program also students will participate in research in this flume. Recently dr. Tuan has published two peer reviewed papers based on research in this flume, and using the IH-VOF computer programme purchased in the framework of Niche. The research itself was fully funded by Vietnamese sponsors and executed without support from foreign consultants:

• Tuan Thieu Quang. (2013) Influence of low sea-dike crown-walls on wave overtopping discharge. Coastal Engineering Journal, 2013, 55.04.

• Tuan Thieu Quang, Thin Nguyen Van. (2014) Numerical study of wave overtopping on sea-dikes with crown-walls. Journal of Hydro-environment Research.


http://www.worldscientific.com/action/doSearch?action=runSearch&type=advanced&result=true&prevSearch=%2Bauthorsfield%3A%28thieu+quang%2C+t%29

http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0578563413500137

http://www.worldscientific.com/action/doSearch?action=runSearch&type=advanced&result=true&prevSearch=%2Bauthorsfield%3A%28thieu+quang%2C+t%29

http://www.worldscientific.com/action/doSearch?action=runSearch&type=advanced&result=true&prevSearch=%2Bauthorsfield%3A%28nguyen+van%2C+t%29

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jher.2014.01.003

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jher.2014.01.003


Table 1. The curriculum outline for the Master Program in Integrated Water Resources Management

TT Subject Specialization Credit Semester

I II III IV

I general knowledge 13 5 4 4 0

1 Philosophy All 3 3

2 English writing All 2 2

3 Research Methodology All 2 2

4 Literature review (for thesis) All 2 2

5 Fieldtrip/ fieldwork All 2 2

6 Groupwork All 2 2

II Knowledge of basics and specialised 23 11 12 0 0

II.1 Core courses 14 11 3 0 0

7 Principles of IWRM All 3 3

8 Water Resources System All 3 3

9 Water Governance All 3 3

10 Water Economics All 3 3

11 GIS & Remote Sensing All 2 2

II.2 Elective (Choose 9 credits, 6 credits for specialisation plus 3 credits out of 5 electives)

9 9

12 Water resources planning WRM 3 3

13 Water system modelling WRM 3 3

14 Water and Environmental Law WG 3 3

15 Transboundary Water Management WG 3 3

16 Applied Ground Water Modelling WE 3 3

17 Flood Risk Management WE 3 3

18 GIS and Remote Sensing Application for Water Sector

El 3 3

19 Watershed and river basin management El 3 3

20 Modelling and operation of river systems El 3 3

21 Water quality management/aquatic ecosystems

El 3 3

22 IWRM for Climate Change adaptation El 3 3

II.3 MSc thesis 10 10

Number of credits in each semester 46 16 16 14 0



Table 2. The list of MSc research topics by participants for MSc in IWRM program (2013-2014 MSc Session)

No. Student Supervisor Proposed topics

1 Nong Bao Anh A/ Prof. Nguyen Thu Hien-WRU and Dr. Ilyas Masih-UNESCO-IHE

Matching water supply and demand in the Huong River basin under climate change conditions

2 Tran Ngoc Huan A/Prof. Pham Thi Huong Lan-WRU

Study on flood risk management in downstream area of the Ke Go Reservoir catchment, Ha Tinh Province.

3 Nguyen Hong Hanh

A/Prof. Dang Tung Hoa –WRU

Ingenious knowledge among farming communities on water resources management– Case study in Thai Binh province, Vietnam

4 Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh

Dr. Ngo Van Quan-WRU and Dr. Ilyas Masih, UNESCO-IHE

Scenarios analysis and assessment of water resources management using WEAP model in Cau River Basin

5 Thi Van Le Khoa A/ Prof. Nguyen Cao Don--WRU

Study on water allocation planning in Vu Gia-Thu Bon river basin, Vietnam

6 Trinh Xuan Manh Dr. Nguyen Mai Dang-WRU

Optimal Reservoir Operation for Water Supply in Dry Season: the case study of Cua Dat reservoir in the Chu – Ma River System

7 Nguyen Tien Quang

Dr. Huynh Phu-HUNRE

A/Prof. Pham Thi Minh Thu--WRU

Research on applying Mike model to predict water quality in La Nga river, Binh Thuan province

8 Bui Duc Toan A/ Pro. Dr. Nguyen Cao Don—WRU

Impacts of the Vung Tau - Go Cong sea dike on hydrodynamic flow regime and transport in the lower Mekong River delta

9 Nguyen Son Tung A/Prof. Dr. Vu Minh Cat- WRU

Numerical simulation for the assessment of groundwater management strategies in coastal aquifers of the Red River Delta, Vietnam

Notes: - Mrs. Hoang Nguyen Minh is expected to PhD within a couple of months

- Co-supervisors at HUNRE side for theses No. 3 and 8 are mentioned just to show their own wishes. Personal contacts among two supervisors and students for mutual agreement and confirmation are needed before formal submission to WRU for consideration.



MSc- Disaster Management (DM) curriculum and course development: Missions to Hanoi by ITC 4 – 7 maart 2013 by Dr. Dinand Alkema (ITC) 26 – 29 August 2013 by Prof. Victor Jetten and Dr. Dinand Alkema 18 – 21 November (Dinand Alkema) Main discussions and work during those visits:

• Further finalize draft curriculum • Submit curriculum for internal review (WRU) and for MOET accreditation • Assign topic and module coordinators for the whole programme • Discuss content of each module • Discuss teaching method for each module • Case study development • Field visit • Course material development

Visit of Dr. Hai to ITC This was the first “long” visit of Dr. Hai to ITC. The purpose of the visit was to expose him to “ITC-style” teaching. In Vietnam exercises are usually done in a guided manner where the teacher shows the students how a task must be carried out and the students follow. Also some teaching days consists of 8 hours of presentations about theory. This does not train independently working students which was one of the complaints we encountered during the labour market survey. For the Vietnamese teachers it was difficult to envision how students could be taught to work individually, so Dr. Hai wanted to see how this was done at ITC. During the week he was at ITC he followed several classes and talked with ITC students (some of them were from Vietnam). He also had a few meetings with staff that worked specifically in water-related fields, like Dr. Parodi and Prof. Jetten. They gave him their teaching materials that he could use if he wanted. In any case, he could use these materials as template for his own exercises. Dr. Hai also had a few meetings with Mrs. Koelen about the common topic “Academic Skills”. He feels this component is a very important part of the program that should help to increase the academic quality of the graduates. To initiate research collaboration, Dr. Hai was invited to give a guest lecture about his flood research he had carried out in Cambodia using a self-developed software tool. The results were very impressive. Prof. Jetten is also developing a flood propagation software package and he invited Dr. Hai to review his work and to work on a joint publication. WRU staff training at ITC

1) Mr. Nguyen The Toan followed the course Natural Hazards Modelling and Risk Assessment

2) Mrs. Nguyen Ho Phuong Thao followed the course Disaster Risk Management and

Environmental Assessment for Spatial Planning.

3) Mrs. Pham Hong Nga followed the course Disaster Risk Management.



MSc programmes In May 2014 all the 3 MSc course will start. The figure below presents the programme and shows the positioning of the program-specific topics, the electives, and the common topics for all programs. This template was accepted by all programs and now forms the basis of scheduling the program topics. So now all the common topics are given at the same time and all the elective topics are concentrated in semester 3. This gives the students the possibility to also choose electives from the other programs

A course brochure was prepared (see attached)



Output 3-c: Short courses In 2013 Royal Haskoning DHV provided a short course for professionals on “ managing extreme events” The training was well attended by professionals from government and private sector and staff of WRU. The training had an interactive case (Hoi An coastal erosion near resorts). The training provided a good basis for a further joint research and industry cooperation case. A detailed report on the mission by Haskoning is available.

IV Networking Collaboration between HUNRE and WRU: During several activities the project staff of HUNRE and WRU have been working together. In 2013 seven HUNRE staff members are trained in the IWRM MSc course at WRU. They will finalized the programme in 2014 and then start working as lecturers at HUNRE in the BSC programme IWRM. This also provides more understanding of each other’s knowledge and capacity. National networking: Both HUNRE as well as WRU have traveled within Vietnam to meet with important partner universities and clients (regional government). They also attended national conferences and workshops (e.g. Delta2013 Workshop, Mekong delta Conference)

International networking:

HUNRE: did not spend the budget and would like to transfer this budget to 2014.

WRU: had several visits in the region to international conferences. Dr. Cong attended the Delta workshop in Myanmar with examples from the Delta’s in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Spin-offs: Besides the scheduled outputs some additional results were reached;

a. In December 2013 the TU Delft and the Water Resources University (WRU) in Hanoi have started the joint venture VINWATER, Vietnam Netherlands Centre for Water and Environment. On Monday 16 December, TU Delft President Dirk Jan van den Berg and Professor Nguyen Quang Kim, rector of WRU, signed the memorandum of association. This took place in Vietnam in presence of Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment. VINWATER will be a ‘Science and Technology Centre’, located in Hanoi. Professor of Coastal Engineering Marcel Stive says: “I am proud that our partnership has now become so mature that we will be truly collaborating on an equal footing. Establishing this centre is the logical next step in our long partnership.” In VINWATER, WRU and TU Delft aim to make their expertise available to third parties, including the Vietnamese government. In doing so, VINWATER will be responding to a need in the Vietnamese market for application-oriented research and advice. VINWATER will bring in Vietnamese researchers from WRU, who will be supervised and advised from Delft. Many of the researchers received their MSc or PhD degrees from TU Delft. VINWATER will provide them with interesting scientific jobs. In addition, the university staff will offer the opportunity to gain practical experience and introduce it into the domain of education in the form of case studies.

b. Mr. Son , staff member of WRU, applied for a 911 fellowship from the Vietnamese government. He was awarded a PhD fellowship and has started his PhD study in Delft in 2014.

c. Two groups of Dutch students have done a group work in Vietnam. This work was part of their curriculum at TU Delft, so basically the work was outside the scope of the Niche project. However a number of potential Vietnamese teachers participated in the Vietnamese part of the group work. In this way they could experience the organisation of such a project work. The Dutch students



have presented their results at WRU to the relevant staff (and also to students). The reports of these projects are available2.

d. ITC provided support to WRU in setting up a receiving station for satellite data. This satellite-derived hydrological information is a service provided by the Chinese Meteorological Agency (CMA) and contains more than one hundred products at different temporal and spatial resolutions. This information is very useful to monitor hydrological processes over large areas and long duration. However because of delays at the CMA-side, it was not possible to finalize the set-up of this system at the WRU premises in 2012 and 2013. It is now foreseen that this will be done in June 2014.

e. WRU, HUNRE and TU Delft jointly implemented a project for the Netherlands Space Office (NSO) on Remote sensing for water management in the framework of the Government to Government (G2G) program Vietnam Transboundary water and climate service”. Staff from WRU and HUNRE, and staff and students of TU Delft implemented the assignment. The final report is available with the project team.

2 The following two reports are available: • Development of case studies in the Hue area to be used in the English language course at WRU Hanoi,

(2013) TU Delft, Master project, in cooperation with WRU Hanoi • The Framework for Integrated Water Management in the Thua Thien-Hue Province, (2013) TU Delft,

Master project, in cooperation with WRU Hanoi


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2. Realisation of policy priorities

In this paragraph the contributions of the project in achieving the overall objective and policy priorities of the NICHE programme are described in brief.

2.1. Capacities of relevant organisations and institutes are being strengthened

The project directly aims to strengthen two universities (WRU and HUNRE). The core of the programme is on the development of curriculum and course material (including cases studies and exercises) for 5 programmes:

i. New BSc IWRM at HUNRE

ii. Adjusted MSc IWRM at WRU

iii. New MSc DM at WRU

iv. New combined MSc CE and CZM at WRU (2 specializations)

Staff is trained to give these courses, material is developed, cases studies prepared, facilities and infrastructure are strengthened (through investments), and the whole environment at the university is prepared to embed the new programmes within the on-going developments.

2.2. Capacities in the delivery of education and training are being strengthened

Skills of staff are being strengthened and within those coaching and training gender aspects are discussed.

2.3. Research capacities are being strengthened

Staff of WRU and TU Delft are involved in several joint research projects. Through the project we have the chance to further strengthen that relation. Within the MSc programmes research capacity is also further strengthened. The library plays a central role in research skills and in 2012 and 2013 an large investment is made to improve the digital library at WRU. Two new PhD students have started in delft with funds outside the NICHE project.

HUNRE is a new university and their research capacity has to be developed. Through the project we have the chance to introduce them to the water network in Vietnam, the region and the world. Books have been purchased to allow staff and students to have more access to international literature. The case study which we jointly prepare is a very good way to start-up some practical research capacity at HUNRE.

2.4. Activities are related to needs of the labour market

Royal Haskoning DHV has prepared a tailor made training in the programme and also gave feed-back on the draft curricula for the new programmes. The link with the business community is very important.

The results fo the labour market survey (carried out in 2012) are still guiding the discussions on the new programmes.

2.5. Gender discrepancies are being addressed

Within this project it has been made very explicitly that we strive to have a high percentage of female participants, both staff as students. This has resulted in the fact that all 3 project managers ((WRU, HUNRE and Dutch consortium) are female, and 2 out of 5 course coordinators are female.

In the newly to be developed curriculum we include “Mainstreaming Gender in Water Management”. The lecture notes/ resource guide on this subject are used and will be used in the new programmes (available with the project manager).



At HUNRE a gender awareness training workshop was organised by the Centre for Women and Development, Vietnam Women’s Union. The workshop was evaluated very high and HUNRE would like to organise a follow-up in 2014. A detailed report is available with the team.

WRU organised several gender training activities in 2013 related to “Gender issues of sustainable water development in the context of climate change.

Specifically: - Material presentation - Lectures for MSc student (20 MSc studnets) - Gender workshop for faculty staff (50 staff)

The activities were guided by Dr. Tran Thu Thuy, Head of Administration Office – Vietnam Women’s Union.

2.6. Collaboration with other (NICHE) projects has taken place

There is a direct link with NICHE-VNM-104 and 105. The project managers of the 3 projects meet regularly and staff of HUNRE and WRU have been trained in short courses implemented at VNU in HCMC under the NICHE-VNM-104 project. The relation is good and will continue in the following years.

2.7. An integrated approach has been used in capacity development activities

The project is designed in such a way that we use an concerted approach of actions aiming at creating human capital, educational content and resources, operationalization of the education programmes and addressing the overall governance function. This approach provides an optimal balance for the investments needed in the respective areas.

2.8. Organisational learning has been practiced

Experiences from the past are used in the design of the new programmes. This also includes discussion on quality control and accreditation and how to link those two. It is important to learn from experiences in the region.

2.9. Local and regional expertise has been involved in the project implementation

So far mainly national expertise (experts in Vietnam, other universities in Vietnam, companies based in Vietnam ) has been used. But in the years to come we want to include regional expertise.

On the other side we do use WRU staff capacity in other regional programmes. Staff of WRU is involved in projects in Thailand and Myanmar, jointly with TU Delft and UNESCO-IHE. This regional sharing of knowledge is very valuable for WRU.

3. Adjustments in project planning The project is well on schedule. Almost all activities proposed in the annual plan 2013 did take place as scheduled. Only a few activities have been postponed to 2014 and a few other items in the planning for 2014 have been adjusted. This has been described in detail in the Annual Plan for 2014, which was submitted in October 2013.

4. Sustainability

During the four years of the project the capacity of both universities will be strengthened, curricula and material will be developed and a (online) learning environment will be created. These are all results from which the universities will profit for many years. It is crucial for the universities to offer programmes (education, training and research) that hold relevance for the society it is serving. The most important way of ensuring that programmes are relevant and of good quality is to make sure that there is a constant link to stakeholders and



potential clients of the programmes such as MoNRE, MARD, other local, regional en national Government organizations, semi-public organisations, NGOs and the private sector. Another important aspect is that students learn to solve existing problems in the society and not only work on theory. These aspects will be strengthened within the project and should ensure:

• The deliverance of graduates that have good quality and with relevant skills and knowledge for employers in the water sector in Vietnam. This will be the best marketing tool for the education programmes in the future. The link with private sector (Dutch and Vietnamese companies) will actively be incorporated in the programmes.

• The already existing long-term relationship between the Dutch and Vietnamese partners will be further strengthened in this project with the aim to last for many more years. Joint education, joint research and joint projects will be implemented in equal partnership in the coming years, also after the project. Development of a joint degree programme will be further discussed during the project. TU Delft, IHE and ITC have already developed such programmes in the region in the water sector and in Vietnam on other topics. Such a joint degree might attract more students and higher fees can be charged.

• The online learning and working environment will ensure sustainability. Staff and student will have access to the latest information and knowledge in their field of expertise and the education material that will be developed will be available for all lecturing in the future. Also communication with the consortium team after the completion of the project will be facilitated by the online learning- and working environment.



5. Statement of Approval



6. Annexes The following appendices should be included:

1. A report on progress in achieving objectives and outputs (rotated logframe): see below

2. An itemised statement of expenses containing a full overview of the project expenses for the previous year with reference links to activities. Deviations from the budget must be properly explained and justified.(to be submitted in soft and hard copy)

3. An audit report covering all project expenses for the previous year.

4. An Excel document containing detailed information on outputs planned and achieved (achievement annex) (to be submitted in soft copy).: see soft copy on USB

5. Sustainability barometer: same file as nr. 4 (on USB)



Annex 1. Report on progress in achieving objectives and outputs Please note: the table below contains the same items as the logical framework, but the ‘frame’ has been rotated by 900. This creates more space to write down the required information.

Description: Overall objective:

To contribute to Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in Vietnam which addresses effectively national issues of climate change mitigation and adaptation through strengthening capacity of HUNRE and WRU in the delivery of education, training and research in the field of IWRM. The project also encompasses the integration of gender sensitive issues and approaches and professional manpower needs with regard to IWRM in Vietnam.

Description: Specific objective 1: Strategy & Planning

To act as sounding board for both HUNRE and WRU management on strategic choices and safeguard that the newly developed education programmes are embedded within those strategies

Explain deviations which have occurred compared to what was originally planned .

-

Description: Output 1: A and B

Output 1-A: Organisational and Strategic issues discussed with HUNRE and advise given when needed

Output 1-B: Embedding of the new research-oriented MSc education programmes within the updated strategic development plan of WRU

Indicator(s) indicated in the project document. • Strategic plan document is prepared by HUNRE.

• Plan implementation is regularly monitored and evaluated with HUNRE management.

• An endorsed plan of implementation for new courses at WRU ensuring relevance of content of the courses with attention to integration of applied research orientation and addressing the following issues:

• clear involvement of QA staff in design phases • identification of gender issues that should

addressed in courses • external evaluation of courses through

benchmarking or collaboration with external



partners • define roles and responsibilities to improve

research and strength the link between research, curricula and labour market needs

• Plan on upgrading of equipment and facilities • Focus on (inter) national networking

Indicators realised during the reporting period (in qualitative and quantitative terms). Note: for indicators which require more than one year to be realised you can report on the progress which is being made in achieving the planned output during the reporting year.

• Draft strategic plan HUNRE prepared • Investment plans at WRU are in line with vision on

becoming more research oriented within the MSc education.

• Workshop on long term strategy implemented by CHEPS

• Steering Committee meeting in Hanoi n 2013 with active discussion at HUNRE on their strategic choices.

Cumulative indicators realised at the end of the reporting period (in qualitative and quantitative terms).

As above

Costs (cumulative). 1-A: € 29.730 1-B: € 17.754

Explain deviations which have occurred compared to what was originally planned.

-

Date of completion / realisation and/or adjusted dates.

31 Dec 2013

Description: Specific objective 2: Institutional Strengthening & Capacity Building

Specific Objective 2: To strengthen the capacity of HUNRE and WRU at institutional and management level to implement education, research and training and to improve the capacity of their staff in developing and transferring knowledge.


-

Description: Output 2: A and B Output 2-A: HUNRE management is strengthened and

HUNRE staff capacity is built to successfully implement bachelor education of university level quality and to deliver short courses to fulfill the requirements of the WRM sector in Vietnam in their response to the consequences of Climate Change. Output 2-B: WRU management is strengthened and WRU staff capacity is built to successfully implement MSc education, research and training of high quality to satisfy the needs of the WRM sector in Vietnam in their response to the consequences of Climate Change

Indicator(s) indicated in the project document. • Academic & course managers are trained during study visit in NL

• Gender awareness training workshops for Management (8 staff) and lecturing staff (10) organised in Hanoi by Rutgers WPF.



• Staff have followed 1 year English language courses (over a period of 4 years)

• Bachelor course coordinator trained on-the-job by coaching and working in tandem construction jointly go through all steps of preparation, implementation and evaluation of the BSc course.

• Lecturing staff trained at MSc level at WRU • Staff trained in short courses at TUD, IHE, ITC or

NUS • (Online) teaching and learning facilities

strengthened, equipment purchased and installed. Online learning and working expert trained during 2 weeks visit to NL.

• Librarian trained during 2 weeks visit to NL and (electronic) library facilities upgraded

• Quality assurance system in place

• 8 academic & course managers are trained during short course and study visit in NL

• Gender awareness training workshops for Management (8 staff) and lecturing staff (10) organised in Hanoi by Rutgers WPF.

• 14 lecturing staff trained during short courses (4 weeks) at IHE, ITC, TUD or AIT (4 per MSc programme)

• 4 MSc course coordinators trained on-the-job by coaching and tandem construction Teaching and learning facilities strengthened, equipment purchased and installed

• Librarian (and online learning expert) trained during 2 weeks visit to NL and library (electronic) facilities upgraded.

• A real research environment is created at WRU: library is facilitating staff and students in their research and provision of digital working- and learning environment.

• Quality assurance system in place with good regular monitoring, evaluation and reporting, incl. relevance for labor market and performance indicators related to gender aspects. Based on evaluation the adjustments will be made to the institutional strengthening and capacity building activities at WRU.




• Academic & course managers are trained during study visit in NL

• HUNRE Staff have followed English language courses

• Bachelor course coordinator trained on-the-job by coaching and working in tandem construction jointly go through all steps of preparation, implementation and evaluation of the BSc course.

• HUNRE Staff and WRU staff trained in short courses at TUD, IHE, ITC

• (Online) teaching and learning facilities strengthened, equipment purchased and installed at HUNRE and at WRU.

• 4 MSc course coordinators trained on-the-job by coaching and tandem construction Teaching and learning facilities strengthened, equipment purchased and installed


As above

Costs (cumulative). 2-A: € 124.358 2-B: € 84.040


Investment in equipment at HUNRE was lower than foreseen because the GIS lab was postponed to 2014. HUNRE staff did not study in the region (S’pore) mainly because of lack of English speaking candidates. And availability of suitable courses at NUS. At WRU also the investment in equipment was lower. Training in the Netherlands by WRU staff was less than estimated.


31 Dec 2012

Description: Specific objective 3: Curriculum and Course Development

Specific Objective 3: To strengthen and further develop the education offered in water management in view of climate change at HUNRE and WRU at high-quality standards to meet the needs of the sector in Vietnam


-



Description: Output 3: A en B en C

Output 3-A: Bachelor curriculum at HUNRE developed and implementation of new Bachelor IWRM course started, including continuous monitoring and evaluation of the quality, relevance and relation to the market.

Output 3-B: MSc curriculum at WRU improved/developed and first round of implementation of the 4 MSc courses completed, including continuous monitoring and evaluation of the quality, relevance and relation to the market. Output 3-C: Curricula upgraded and new curriculum developed for short-term training courses for professionals from public and private sector and first round of short courses implemented.

Indicator(s) indicated in the project document. • Labour market survey conducted and report prepared • Review of current curriculum, teaching capacities and

curriculum needs and possibilities made. • BSc curriculum ‘IWRM’ designed and course

curriculum developed with the outcome of the labour market survey and the review of current situation

• Lecture material adjusted (from partner universities and WRU), new material developed and written in Vietnamese

• Local exercises, fieldwork and case studies developed to be used in BSc course

• Gender issues and sensitiveness incorporated in curriculum and gender sensitive language used in lecture materials

• First course advertised, recruitment & selection procedures carried out and students selected to start in Sept. 2014

• First 1,5 years of BSc programme implemented with coaching

• Regular monitoring and evaluation reports, including plans for adjustments of the curriculum design and implementation.

• Plans for accreditation of the programs and submission of plans for approval.

• Labour market survey conducted and report prepared • MSc programme for the 4 courses designed (with

common elements and joint case studies and group-work)

• Curriculum upgraded of Water Resource Mngt (WRM) and Water Resources Development (WRD) and combined into one new MSc programme ‘IWRM’.

• MSc curriculum in Disaster Management (DM), Coastal Engineer (CE) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) developed with the outcome of the labour market survey

• At least two research pilot studies implemented: • The pilot studies are translated in case study material

to be used in education and training • Research skills of staff improved, including the

development of a course on research and academic skills and methodologies to be used in the MSc programmes



• New lecture material developed for the 4 MSc courses incl. gender issues and sensitiveness. Gender sensitive language is used in lecture materials

• First course advertised, recruitment & selection procedures carried out and students selected and started in March 2013 (IWRM) and March 2014 (CE, ICZM and DM)

• First round of the MSc programmes implemented with coaching and buddy system

• Regular monitoring and evaluation reports, including plans for adjustments of the curriculum design and implementation

• Plans for accreditation of the programmes, and submission of plans for approval.

• Training needs assessment of clients in government,

private sector and NGO’s. • Curricula & methodology developed (incl. needs of the

market, focus on problem-solving, case oriented, and incl. gender issues)

• Case study material ready to be used in variety of short courses

• Marketing plan of the short courses developed and implemented

• First round of short courses implemented for variety of clients by HUNRE and WRU (with support of project team). Started in 2013.

• First round of courses evaluated used to improve the courses for the next round.


• Review of current curriculum, teaching capacities and curriculum needs and possibilities made.

• BSc curriculum ‘IWRM’ designed and course curriculum developed with the outcome of the labour market survey and the review of current situation

• Local exercises, fieldwork and case studies under development to be used in BSc course

• Gender issues and sensitiveness incorporated in curriculum

• First course MSC IWRM started • Programmes have been submitted to MOET for

accreditation. • MSc programme for the 3 courses designed (with

common elements and joint case studies and group-work) and agreed about timing.

• Curriculum upgraded of Water Resource Mngt (WRM) and Water Resources Development (WRD) and combined into one new MSc programme ‘IWRM’.

• MSc curriculum in Disaster Management (DM), Coastal Engineer (CE) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) developed with the outcome of the labour market survey

• Pilot study area selected and first material collected • New lecture material developed for the 4 MSc courses

incl. gender issues and sensitiveness. Gender sensitive language is used in lecture materials

• .Curricula & methodology developed (incl. needs of the market, focus on problem-solving, case oriented, and incl. gender issues)

• short courses implemented for variety of clients by



HUNRE and WRU (with support of project team) by RHDHV.


As above

Costs (cumulative). 3-A: € 34.641 3-B: € 84.678 3-C: € 12.007


Several missions of NL staff to Vietnam were postponed


31 Dec 2013

Description: Specific objective 4: Networking

Specific Objective 4: (Networking) To strengthen the cooperation between HUNRE and WRU and further develop their national and international networks in order to improve the quality and relevance of their education, training and research.


Description: Output 4:

Output 4: Collaboration strengthened between HUNRE and WRU and their (inter) national professional and academic networks. Collaboration instrumental for continuous improvement of the quality of education, training and research.

Indicator(s) indicated in the project document. • Short courses for variety of client implemented jointly (at least 4)

• Combined visits of HUNRE & WRU management to NL and combined participation of lecturing staff in short courses in NL. Informal links are established between ‘colleagues’

• Visits to other NICHE projects in Vietnam (Climate Change projects), national professional organisations and academic institutions in the WRM sector in VN (6 in total per year)

• Staff and student exchange with regional partners (e.g. Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam): 2 visits per year

• Participation and presentation during international conferences (2 per year)

• Jointly organize (with other NICHE projects) an international conference in Vietnam in the field of Climate Change.

Indicators realised during the reporting period (in qualitative and quantitative terms). Note: for

• Short courses for variety of client implemented jointly • Combined visits of HUNRE & WRU management to



indicators which require more than one year to be realised you can report on the progress which is being made in achieving the planned output during the reporting year.

HCMC . • Visits to other NICHE projects in Vietnam (Climate

Change projects), national professional organisations and academic institutions in the WRM sector in VN (6 in total per year)


As above

Costs (cumulative). 4: € 7432 Explain deviations which have occurred compared to what was originally planned.

HUNRE staff has not yet travelled internationally..


31 Dec 2013


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