Producing the next generation of water resource experts in South Africa

Abstract

The 2nd African Water Symposium, in conjunction with the 6th Orange River Basin Symposium, was held on the campus of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, on 7 and 8 October 2015. The theme of the symposium was 'systems thinking in environmental water resources management', with the aim of evaluating and debating a holistic approach to water management in southern Africa. The symposium included a panel discussion that was originally intended to define a roadmap towards effective water resources management, but it soon took on a life of its own and evolved into a discussion on how to develop and train the next generation of managers and scientists to tackle the current challenges being faced by the wider water sector. This commentary serves as a record of the main themes identified during the panel discussion and begins by setting the South African context and identifying the plurality of values and opinions held by stakeholders in the post-apartheid water sector. It then elaborates on the decline of water specialists in the country and identifies the characteristics needed from a new generation of water scientists and managers. Finally, it outlines some of the proposed strategies to cultivating a new cohort of specialists able to tackle the challenge of effective water resources management in South Africa.