We live in challenging times. Our populations are growing and the pressures to expand and densify our towns and cities, our food production systems and our energy generation systems to accommodate this growth are increasing.

Globally, fresh water is an abundant resource, yet there are still hundreds of millions of people worldwide who do not have access to a safely managed clean drinking water source and sanitation facilities. The number of developing and developed countries facing severe water-stresses is on the rise. Demand from agriculture, manufacturing, electricity generation and domestic use will continue to grow, making fresh water one of the most contested resources on the planet.

At the same time our climate systems are changing with drought and flood becoming more common and severe. These changes threaten water supply security in terms of quantity, reliability and raw water quality. How can we continue to secure reliable, good quality and affordable supplies of water for our growing towns and cities, for our food systems, and our energy systems in the face of increasing demand and the impacts of climate change? How can we adapt our water systems to be climate resilient without jeopardizing their function or their affordability, or degrading the ecosystems in which we are embedded and on which we rely?

The global water crisis fuels conflict and uncertainty, undermining productive economies and increasing political instability. But this crisis is not solely a consequence of water being a finite resource. Rather, the issue is how we manage water.

In this online training course you will be given an introduction to the history, theory and principles of Integrated Water Management (IWM) and will investigate the conceptual frameworks and practices used to critically analyse water management problems and identify sustainable solutions.

The course will demonstrate the relevance of context-specific interventions and stakeholder participation as being essential to IWM in practice. A diverse range of practitioner led case studies will also allow you to develop an applied knowledge of IWM.