CRCWSC delivers capacity building training in Amaravati

As you know, we’ve been working for some time on projects in two cities in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh under the Australia-Andhra Pradesh Water Sensitive City Partnership. The partnership was created as a platform to share Australia’s urban water management expertise, with critical support from the Australian Water Partnership and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The first project under the partnership is a stormwater management strategy for the greenfield city of Amaravati, while the second is to retrofit nature-based drainage technologies in the existing city of Vijayawada.

One significant element of the Amaravati project is a capacity building program, which we delivered in August as a four-day training program for the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority and water professionals from other cities.

The CRCWSC delivered the training in partnership with the Centre for Science and Environment, and with additional funding from Liveability Victoria International. The training focused on building the capacity of water engineers, scientists, architects and urban planners to use water sensitive urban design. We used Amaravati as a learning case study, and our International Engagement Manager, Jamie Ewert, and Harry Virahsawmy from Alluvium Consulting, were the expert trainers for 32 training participants from several Indian states, including Andhra Pradesh.

By the end of the training, attendees were able to demonstrate their understanding of the principles, approaches and technology, with some Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority participants reporting they now had a greater appreciation of the CRCWSC project and the value of its recommendations. Participants from other cities reported an interest in water sensitive approaches, and the course has resulted in an active, ongoing WhatsApp network among participants.

Feedback was positive, with comments such as these:

‘The overall experience and training agenda were excellent ... It is very good that we had national and international perspective.’ (Madhura Joshi, Partner, Lab A+U Design Studio)

‘The workshop really helped me a lot … The best thing was CSE invited people who are specialists for all parts of the world ...’ (Shivon Mehta, Civil Engineering Student at Manipal University, Jaipur)

For more information about this project, contact Jamie Ewert, at Jamie.ewert@monash.edu.