Summary of the Water Resources Information Sharing and Training
Program for Developing Nations
© 2004 Southern DataStream, Inc.
Southern
DataStream, Inc. (SDS) and Intelligentsia International, Inc.
(III), specialists in water resources internship programs seek
to provide a Florida-based instructional program that combines
direct work experiences with tours, seminars, and community
involvement focusing on the values of a pluralistic, democratic
society. The partners will deliver advanced training
experiences in water resource management tailored both to the
needs of students and professionals from less developed parts of
the world, and to the wider economic and societal needs of these
regions. The program will utilize the cultural, educational and
technological resources of south Florida, and multinational
human resources assembled in south Florida and cooperating
international locations to assist in program administration.
Key roles in the staff support structure are assigned to
cooperators from the European Union and other countries
considered traditional allies of the U.S.A. This multinational
approach ensures that participants from developing nations are
exposed to multiple, diverse experiences with democracy and
provides cultural enrichment to the training group. In this way,
the multinational approach to overseas assistance is
maintained. The program is envisioned as a short-term (four
months) experience with the number of participants limited to
twenty at any one time, composed of two groups of ten
participants whose arrival is staggered at two-month intervals.
Integrated with the international participants will be a smaller
group of U.S. students who will both provide cultural balance
and context. All participants will be housed in closely
supervised dormitory facilities to ensure program accountability
and security.
Components
of the program will include communications training and
instruction in international professional culture and the
practice and significance of civic engagement. The SDS/III
training program is unique in its offering of an intensive
hands-on training program with supervised experiences in both
the technical and social aspects of water projects in a region
subject to intensely competing demands for municipal,
agricultural and environmental use of water. These educational
experiences are offered along with historical context as to the
background science, economics, and politics surrounding the
projects. The program thus provides participants with an
appreciation for the challenges of a career in natural resource
management and the dedication required to maintain
professionalism, ethics, and ideals over the long term. Most
importantly, this project-support training program will
contribute to the environmental and human aspects of
globalization through its incorporation of an ongoing and
mutually beneficial component promoting connectedness among
nations and peoples.
Program
participants will have the opportunity to study from among the
leading-edge technologies and practices which are maintained and
developed in south Florida, including: aquifer storage and
recovery, surface reservoirs and storm water treatment systems,
micro-irrigation technologies, alternate farming methods,
public-private partnerships, land acquisition and easements, new
equipment design and development, hydrological monitoring and
data analysis, GIS-based resource inventories, advanced computer
modeling, river channel restorations and urban/rural water
conservation projects. Participants will distill and interpret
the knowledge they accumulate from field trips and activities in
order to gain a broad appreciation for the multifaceted nature
of regional water management. The participants will combine
their new perspectives with concurrent study of ongoing projects
in their home nations to create project summaries and analyses
for publication on an Internet-based water resources information
clearinghouse, OurWater.net. This training Web site will be
created and maintained by the students and professionals in
English and their native language(s). Language classes will be
provided to participants whose English facility does not meet
the minimum required standard.
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