Australia Awards – South Asia & Mongolia (the Program) is seeking a cost-effective training program for up to 16 participants. This Short Course will be delivered via blended delivery over five months, commencing in January 2027 and completing no later than May 2027. 

The proposed Short Course aims to strengthen the capacity of Indian policymakers and practitioners in India to apply integrated, climate-resilient approaches to water-resource management and disaster risk reduction, while strengthening institutional linkages and practical cooperation between Indian and Australian organisations.

A short course focussing on Australia’s internationally recognised expertise and practical experience in water governance, river basin management, scarcity forecasting, and disaster resilience would provide valuable opportunities for knowledge exchange with Indian policymakers and practitioners. Australia’s experience in managing complex river basins, balancing water demands, planning for drought and climate variability, and strengthening institutional and stakeholder coordination provides relevant lessons for India. The Murray-Darling Basin provides a particularly relevant case study of basin-scale water planning, governance, environmental management, stakeholder engagement and management of competing water demands.

The short course would provide a foundation for long-term collaboration between both countries, including through alumni engagement, institutional partnerships, knowledge exchange and potential cooperation between relevant government agencies, universities and research institutions. 

 The Short Course would also provide the flexibility to engage a broader range of stakeholders beyond government representatives, including those from civil society, academia, and the policy community who work regularly with disaster affected populations (often from Indigenous communities). This would help ensure a more inclusive and consultative approach to an issue that disproportionately affects marginalised communities. 

At the conclusion of the Short Course, participants will have strengthened ability to:

• Apply river basin management principles to the planning and management of major Indian river systems, particularly the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins. 

• Analyse the institutional and governance dimensions of transboundary river basins, including regional cooperation, coordination between basin stakeholders and management of shared water resources.

• Identify opportunities and challenges for water-related data sharing, knowledge exchange and collaborative decision-making across institutions and, where relevant, across national boundaries. Assess hydrological and climate-related risks affecting river basins, including floods, droughts, erosion, sedimentation, and water scarcity. 

• Interpret and utilise forecasting outputs from flood and drought early warning systems for decision-making and emergency response. 

• Develop components of a river master plan, including basin assessments, environmental considerations, infrastructure requirements, and stakeholder engagement strategies. 

• Evaluate infrastructure resilience of water-related assets and design recovery and adaptation strategies for extreme events. 

• Design watershed management interventions that improve water security, ecosystem health, groundwater recharge, and climate resilience. 

• Manage, analyse, and visualise water-related data using modern data platforms, GIS, remote sensing, and decision-support systems. 

• Integrate multiple data sources to support evidence-based planning, forecasting, and basin governance. 

• Develop practical action plans relevant to their organisations and regional water management challenges.