Professional Certificate

Develop the proficiency and expertise that employers are looking for with specialized training and professional education.

2 Courses in program
8 weeks per course
6 - 7 hours per week
English language

Solving today’s water challenges is key to sustainable development but it has become increasingly complex due to the many sectors and stakeholders involved. Sectoral engineering approaches and economic management models alone no longer suffice to develop effective water strategies and policies. A more holistic, integrated and inclusive approach is needed to ensure the wise management and use of water, for current and future generations.

Governments, companies and international organizations in the water sector increasingly seek professionals who can use critical strategic thinking, both from a systems and a stakeholder perspective. This program will help you master and sharpen the skills essential for effective policy analysis, strategy and planning.

The courses in this program offer you the state-of-the-art approaches and tools required to deal with complex and multi-actor challenges in the water sector. You will learn how to use systems thinking and stakeholder analysis to develop integrated, future-oriented water policies and strategies. They will improve your ability to solve water problems across sectoral, spatial and institutional boundaries.

This online program is developed and taught by experts in policy analysis and water management from TU Delft and the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. It fruitfully combines TU Delft’s expertise in multi-actor systems with IHE Delft’s long-standing experience in graduate education for the water sector worldwide.

This online program is offered by

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After completing this program, you will be able to:

Explain how policy analysis can support sustainable water management in a multi-actor setting.
Use a systems approach to structure complex water problems for strategic planning.
Consider different actor scenarios that may affect water management strategies.
Apply methods for advanced stakeholder analysis to real-world water problems.

The first course in the program focuses on how to apply systems thinking to address complex water problems. The second course focuses on how to use advanced methods for stakeholder analysis to deal more effectively with sensitive processes of dialogue, conflict, negotiation or cooperation among different actors.

These online courses combine video lectures, reading materials and practical exercises to introduce you to new policy and planning methods and approaches. Tailored feedback from instructors helps you apply those methods to water problems in your own field of work.

Practical applications
Finding the actual problem and plausible outcomes
Securing access to clean water and sanitation is a complex challenge in growing urban areas.

This challenge can be seen as one of improving performance of water operators or expanding their services. This triggers policy questions on how to secure finance to expand and upgrade water infrastructure, combined with improved operational management. Yet the challenge might not be just about these issues. Maybe it is worth exploring more localized and decentralized solutions.

Making a conscious choice about what the actual problem is, rather than quickly moving to detailed discussions of pre-defined solutions, is likely to prevent failures, such as infrastructure that degrades within a few years, or designs that look cost-efficient only on the drawing board.

Models can also show different plausible outcomes and help define smart actions and conditions that can make a big difference.

Whether this is on water and sanitation, flood management, water pollution, droughts, water for food or energy; systems approaches and actor strategy models help identify which factors and actors need to be accounted for, and ultimately what strategies and solutions to implement.

The program enables you to grow into the role of a water strategist and policy analyst.
Water professionals with an enhanced ability for strategic thinking, flexibility and creativity in tackling new complex water challenges are indispensable and in great demand by government agencies, companies and utilities all over the world.
"Half of the world's workers - 1.5 billion people - are employed in eight water and natural resource-dependent industries" (unwater.org)

Reema Deo
"The modules are designed to be easily understood with video tutorials presented in each module. This program will assist you in understanding how to analyze a policy without bias."
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Oudi Kgomongwe
"You could go through the application of the methods with your instructor on a real issue you are solving and get a better insight of its use in practice."
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Certificates

If you successfully complete this online program you will earn a joint certificate from TU Delt and the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, and you are eligible to receive 10 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

This online program is primarily geared towards working professionals.

Prerequisites:

None. Experience in working with stakeholder networks is a plus. Some practical experience in working in a water or environmental policy context would be a bonus.

The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and IHE Delft will share learners personal data for the purpose of granting access to and completing the joint program Water Strategy and Planning.

Do I need prior knowledge before enrolling in this program?

You will require an academic level of thinking, and have acquired at least a Bachelor's degree. Other than this, specific prior knowledge is not required. However, some knowledge of or experience in the water sector will be useful. The courses in the program do not cover water management fundamentals, but really focus on the strategic planning and policy analysis methods and approaches.

Do I need to take the courses in the proposed order?

We recommend that learners follow the courses in the suggested order. However, this is not essential and learners should also be able to follow the courses in a different sequence.

What if I cannot complete the program directly?

Individual courses are valid and can be considered for the full program within a two-year period after their completion.

Can I start with individual courses and still apply for the program certificate later?

Learners who directly enroll in the full program (two courses), will benefit from a discounted program fee. Learners who enroll in the courses separately, can apply for a program certificate after their successful completion of the two courses. This will be subject to a small administrative handling fee.

If you have any other questions about this program or the TU Delft online learning environment, please contact us via this form.

As part of our efforts to make online education more accessible for all, we offer Financial Assistance for this program. If your application is successful you will receive a 50% discount on the total fee.

See all requirements and apply.

We offer a discounted fee for groups. Discounts start at 10% and depend on the number of participants in the group.

Please contact us directly for more information.