Centre for Water and Climate Adaptation (CWCA)

About

The Centre for Water and Climate Adaptation (CWCA) is a strategic initiative established under the School of Engineering and Technology (SET) at the Asian institute of Technology (AIT) to tackle water and climate-change related challenges in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Leveraging AIT’s unmatched technical expertise, the center focuses on research, capacity building, and consulting. In the face of increasing climate impacts, the CWCA stands as a beacon for sustainable solutions, aligning with international efforts and the broader goals of climate resilience and water security.

Vision and Mission

The broad vision of the Centre is to serve as a catalyst in helping the Asia Pacific region and beyond, move up the water security spiral by leveraging on the strength and expertise of AIT faculty and staff.
The mission of the Centre are as follows:

  1. Generating knowledge and skills through research and development to address current and future water and climate crises;
  2. Becoming institutional home for spreading knowledge of sustainable and resilient water management;
  3. Increasing awareness of planners and policy-makers about challenges and opportunities for sustainable and resilient water management;
  4. Developing and demonstrating innovative forward-looking management and technology solutions;
  5. Collaborating and sharing knowledge, information, experience, and expertise with regional and international institutions.

 

Focus Areas

CWCA will focus on three core pillars in line with the core competencies of AIT. These include:

Expertise

Services Offered

Leadership

Mukand Singh Babel
Distinguished Professor
Sangam Shrestha
Dean, Director

Featured Projects

Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (ABCD-Centre) (2021-2025)

Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre: Aachen – Bangkok – Chennai – Dresden” project (ABCD Centre Project), funded by DAAD is initiated in 2021 and will continue for next 5 years (until 2025). The consortium comprises RWTH Aachen University, Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok (AIT), Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) and United Nations University – Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES). ABCD-Centre strives to act as an inter- and transdisciplinary platform for a science-based global dialogue and exchange on water security and climate adaptation. Three core objectives of the projects are:

As a joint effort between leading scientific institutions, the Centre enables a global dialogue, the transfer of research results into practice and the education of future environmental leaders. The ambition to become a global hub for water security and climate adaptation research is reflected in the creation of three interconnected, synergistically intertwined research clusters. 

Principal Investigator: Prof. Mukand S. Babel, Dr. Dibesh Khadka

Partner Organizations:

Relevant Donors: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) with funds from the Federal Foreign Office

For more details, Link

An international event organized by the ABCD-Centre on Water Security and Climate Adaptation (WSCA2023) in IIT Madras, India (03-07 Oct 2023)

Training workshop organized by the ABCD-Centre on WATSAT (Water Security Assessment Tool) in IIT Tirupati, India (01 Oct 2023)

ADB TA-9993 THA: Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture for Enhanced Recovery and Sustainability of Highlands (2021-2024)

The knowledge and support technical assistance (TA) will support Thailand’s efforts to:

To enhance post-COVID-19 recovery efforts and to promote dissemination and use of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) knowledge, the TA will build technical and institutional capacities to assess vulnerabilities, demonstrate CSA practices and digital technologies for traceability of agri-food products, and support local governments to integrate climate change concerns in agricultural planning. It will help enhance food security in Nan province, while reviving and benefiting from local wisdom on climate resilience, indigenous stress-tolerant crop varieties, and value addition.

Principal Investigator: Prof. Mukand S. Babel, Prof. Sangam Shrestha, Prof. Anil K. Anal, Dr. Takuji W. Tsusaka, Prof. Avishek Datta, Mr. Voravate Chonlasin

Partner Organizations:

Relevant Donors:

For more details, visit ADB website, CCAA website

Solar irrigation demonstration site in Nan Province, Thailand

Capacity building workshop for government officials in Nan Province, Thailand

Water Modelling for Climate Resilience in Lao PDR (2023-2024)

The overarching goal of the proposed project is to develop the capacity of water modelling across multiple departments responsible for the management of different aspects of water resources of Laos PDR as identified by the country’s Department of Water Resources (DWR), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), and other line agencies. Two training workshops were conducted during the project (15-19 Jan 2024 and 12-16 Feb 2024) with the following specific objectives.

Principal Investigator: Prof. Mukand S. Babel, Dr. Dibesh Khadka

Partner Organizations:

Relevant Donors: The Australian Water Partnership (AWP)

In-person training workshop organized in Vientiane, Lao PDR, 12-16 Feb 2024.

Training workshop in progress