Tomorrow, water
Collaborating with universities in the South to help African students learn about water management: this is the idea behind a new project called MAREMA[1]. This Erasmus+ program, led by the University of Montpellier, will be launched on November 16.
By 2030, more than half of Africa's population will live in cities. The main thing these megacities have in common is a very high demand for water...In large cities, drainage systems are sometimes inadequate. The poorest populations are generally the most vulnerable. Lacking resources, they occupy vacant urban spaces despite the risks involved (ravines, low-lying flood-prone areas, steep slopes). explains Professor Bamory Kamagaté of Nangui Abrogoua University (Ivory Coast).
Precious and capricious
Water and Africa: a story as old as time. On this continent where humanity was born, water is not only a problem by default. While risks may be linked to difficult access, they can also be linked to excess. “The countries we work with in Central and West Africa experience very heavy rainfall and therefore periods of severe flooding," says MAREMA project coordinator Valérie Borrell Estupina of the University of Montpellier, citing the example of the streets of Yaoundé (Cameroon), which are regularly transformed into veritable torrents.
Other problems related to water management include environmental pollution and the risks faced by riverside communities. Sanitation, wastewater management and treatment, poorly controlled discharges, the spread of chemicals used in agriculture through flooding... All in all, the technical and scientific challenges associated with water management are as numerous as they are complex. And they present very worrying prospects for the development of large African cities...
Montpellier's expertise in water sciences
The MAREMA project seeks to transplant teaching methods that have proven successful in France to African soil. “The multidisciplinary Master's degree in Water Sciences at the University of Montpellier brings together a wide range of very different disciplines: hydraulics, of course, but also physics, biology, chemistry, humanities and social sciences, and even geology. It is in fact the only program in France authorized to use this title,"continues Valérie Borrell Estupina, director of the master's program.
This is an extremely attractive project for universities in the South, which were fully involved in its development from the outset. "It is also generating a lot of interest in the north," says Eric Servat, director of the Montpellier Institute for Water and the Environment, which represents the laboratories involved in this project. We are offering European researchers a new field of discovery: the master's degree in water sciences is constantly evolving and is based on a wide range of research work."
Benin, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon
Supported by research teams and enriched by analysis of labor market needs, the MAREMA project is based on existing master's programs at partner universities in the South: these will be gradually adapted to create a common curriculum in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, and Cameroon.
With a budget of nearly €800,000, the program is set to continue until the end of 2019. The end result will be a fully operational master's degree in water sciences. And economic benefits for the countries concerned: "These courses meet a strong need in the African labor market in the face of major environmental and societal challenges. The project also involves a number of industrialists. We can be sure that students on this new course will have no difficulty finding a job," says David Sebag, an expert on the project.
Key partners
- Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, Belgium
- Research Institute Research Development, France
- Houphouët Boigny National Polytechnic Institute, Ivory Coast
- Abomey Calavi University, Benin
- Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
- University of Barcelona, Spain
- University of Montpellier, France
- University of Grenoble Alpes, France
- Nangui Abrogoua University, Ivory Coast
- University of Ngaoundéré, Cameroon
- University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon
[1] Master's Degree in Water Resources and Environmental Risks in African Cities
Photo credit: Floriane Celle