Newsletter SPLASH : September 2009
Making a SPLASH! 
Newsletter September 2009
To view the online version containing photographs, please go to: http://www.splash-era.net/downloads/newsletter_0909.pdf
1. Update on SPLASH key objectives
Since SPLASH began in January 2007, it has made good progress on its
four key objectives. These are listed below, together with details
of recent activities and resources resulting from them.
Objective 1: to improve coordination between existing
SPLASH partner-funded research programmes in order to exploit potential
synergies and reduce duplication
SPLASH has
developed a number of new public online resources in line with this
objective:
- Water for Development Yellow Pages
The Water for Development Yellow Pages seeks to capture the many
water research for development projects carried out by different
institutions and funded by a variety of donor organisations, and the
plethora of repositories and portals that contain information
relating to these. It can be searched by the categories of
university and research institutes, research projects and programmes,
information portals and repositories, and electronic discussion
lists. Full website details are provided, including the main
organisations involved and the research outputs they produce.
Please
visit: http://www.splash-era.net/yell/index.php
- SPLASH Capacity Building Directory
This directory provides an overview of international capacity
development initiatives in the water sector. Capacity development is
defined as the process by which individuals acquire adequate technical,
managerial and financial skills to enable them to do their jobs. It also
refers to the process by which organisations take deliberate steps to
construct an enabling environment to support their staff in performing
their duties. Its target audience is anyone interested in knowing who is
involved in capacity development in the water sector. If you know of or
are involved in an initiative not already in the directory, or if you
would like to update your entry, there is a link provided to do
this.
Please visit: http://splash-era.net/cbd/index.php
- SPLASH fact sheet series
SPLASH has produced a number of fact sheets, which synthesise some of
its key outputs. Additional fact sheets will be added. Those currently
available are:
- Fact sheet 1: A review of national researchprogrammes on water,
science and technology fordevelopment - Fact sheet 2: Research management: doing it right
- Fact sheet 3: Lessons for improved uptake of research in policy
and practice - Fact sheet 4: Recommendations for improved uptake of research in
policy and practice - Fact sheet 5: Uptake of research in policy and practice:
Perspectives of policy makers and researchers - Fact sheet 6: Online Water for Development Yellow Pages
- Fact sheet 7: Research management: Online Directory of
International Capacity Development Programmes - Fact sheet 8: Uptake of research in policy and practice: The
influence of policy research on government policiesPlease
visit http://splash-era.net/search_outputs.php#fs
Objective 2: To understand what constitutes good
research management practice and ensure that this is known and
used
- Training materials on research management
As reported in the July newsletter, SPLASH is developing open source
training materials on research management, in order to fill an
identified gap, and also to disseminate findings from earlier SPLASH
work on good research management practice. SPLASH aims to have the
materials ready for piloting early in 2010. The course developers
still welcome suggestions for the course content and mode of delivery.
We would particularly like to hear from any individual or organisation
that might use the course, and who would be interested to pilot it when
developed. Your views will assist us in developing a course that
fits your needs.
Please contact Frank Odhiambo: f.o.odhiambo@lboro.ac.uk
Objective
3: To improve knowledge sharing between researchers and practitioners to
help to speed up the use of research findings, and to ensure that new
research is demand led
- SPLASH lessons learned on the uptake of research
A workshop in October 2008 provided a platform to synthesise eleven
lessons learnt across the SPLASH work programme, which would
improve the uptake of research results, relating to all stages of the
research cycle, from inception to monitoring and evaluation. More detail
is available in fact sheet 3 at http://splash-era.net/downloads/SPLASH_Fact_Sheet_3.pdf
Three lessons relate to the dissemination of research results:
firstly, that this activity is often still very inadequate; that
existing knowledge could be used more to prevent duplication of
research; and that more needs to be known about how intermediary actors
can increase the use of research results. A set of corresponding
recommendations were also developed, aimed specifically at the
stakeholder groups of funders, research institutions and research
programmes. These recommendations provide guidance on making effective
dissemination of research results at programme and project level a
requirement; on increasing the coordination of existing programmes; and
on recognising the role of and actively supporting intermediary
organizations. More detail is available in fact sheet 4 at http://splash-era.net/downloads/SPLASH_Fact_Sheet_4.pdf
- Regional training on Groundwater Management for Water
Managers: The Role of Hydrogeological Science
In July 2009, the African Groundwater Network (AGW-Net) in
cooperation with SPLASH and Cap-Net hosted a training course entitled
"Groundwater management for water managers: A role for hydrogeological
science" at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South
Africa. The purpose of this course was to describe the role of
hydrological science in supporting emerging issues and practices in the
management of groundwater for non hydrogeologists. This very successful
training course was organized by Professor Tamiru A. Abiye. A
total of 13 participants from 10 African countries attended, most of
whom were civil engineers and hydrologists, from water ministries and
water bureaus. In addition to Professor Abiye and the AGW-Net
co-ordinator Richard Owen, two SPLASH partners with backgrounds in
hydrogeology (from BGR and GEUS) gave lectures. The course also included
discussions and working groups. It is expected that course
participants will disseminate knowledge from this that will lead to
common management strategies for groundwater in Africa, where
appropriate. It is also planned for SPLASH to support a subsequent
workshop in 2010. The format and topic of this will depend on the
results of an evaluation of the July training course.
Objective 4: To agree a research agenda and jointly
funded activities which can benefit from a transnational approach, that
is, with more than one European partner working
together
- Jointly-funded activities
SPLASH conducted a series of consultations which identified research
themes that would benefit from a jointly funded approach. SPLASH donors
have agreed to fund a research programme which will examine the delivery
chain for sanitation services, with a geographic focus in sub-Saharan
Africa. The call for proposals is being developed and is expected to be
launched in March 2010. For more information, contact Manfred
Kaufmann(mkaufmann@ethz.ch).
2. Looking forwards
During a meeting in Berne in July, SPLASH donors have also positively
responded to:
- A request to support the African Ministers Council of Water
(AMCOW) and African Ministers Council on Science and Technology
(AMCOST) initiative to develop a network of centres of excellence in
water science and technology in Africa; - A proposal to establish research needs for the sustainable
development of small scale hydropower development in the Mekong River
Basin; and - A request to support a coordination initiative in the Niger River
Basin between ongoing research programmes.Our work will start
in November 2009.
SPLASH Contact Details
Contact SPLASH:
Anne Blenkinsopp
Programme Manager, Central
Research Department
Department for International Development (DFID)
Visit the SPLASH Website: http://www.splash-era.net