The Thai-German Climate Programme – Water (TGCP-Water), a collaboration between the Office of National Water Resources Management (ONWR) and GIZ, is currently developing a sequenced Capacity Development Programme (CDP) to enhance cooperation management for climate resilience in Thailand’s river basins. The aim is to strengthen knowledge among ONWR staff and members of the River Basin Committees (RBCs), the key planning unit at the river basin scale, and other relevant stakeholders on both the institutional and technical aspects for climate-sensitive Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA).

The programme is intended to support planning as well as the implementation processes. Ultimately, the TGCP-Water cooperates with the Academy for International Cooperation (AIZ Bangkok) in developing the “Process Toolbox” so that the stakeholders will be able to use it for the development of climate-sensitive River Basin Master Plans (RBMPs).

The toolbox is comprised of a comprehensive set of concepts, guidelines and tools for RBC secretariats, members of the RBCs and training facilitators from ONWR to run an effective and participatory process for climate-sensitive and risk-informed RBMP development and project planning.

The toolbox also includes tailored information for the use of an integrated concept and tools such as results-oriented planning and management, climate risk assessment, adaptation measures, and ecosystem and nature-based solutions, a communication strategy for communities, and tools for multi-stakeholder facilitation.

The CDP and the Process Toolbox will be proposed to the ONWR Training Development Working Group for Water Resources Management, a newly established working group that is responsible for ONWR staff and the capacity development of other water-related agencies for final approval. The joint implementation of the programme will start from July 2020 initially in two pilot sites- the Yom river basin and Sakae Krang river basin.