The challenge of water management in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) is fundamentally a systems issue, further aggravated by the impacts of climate change. Across the region, rivers face multiple pressures from climate, urban development trajectories, and institutional governance. These changes transcend across administrative boundaries and sectoral mandates, underscoring the need for an integrated basin-scale approach to water management.
Addressing this multifaceted challenge requires an Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM), which provides a holistic framework that carefully considers every element within a basin: from resources to users. However, operationalising such an approach across the region remains challenging, particularly due to limited technical capacity, institutional fragmentation, and uneven access to applied learning opportunities.
To address these challenges, ICIMOD’s annual professional training course on Multiscale IRBM in the HKH has progressively evolved from a predominantly in-person programme into a blended learning model. The programme now integrates online instruction with structured field exposure visits to key river basin management contexts across its regional member countries. The 2025 edition marked a significant milestone, with the formal integration of a massive open online course (MOOC) alongside a regional exposure visit to the Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba dams in the Yangtze River Basin, China.
A regional learning platform for HKH countries
A defining strength of the training course has been the diversity of its participants. Over the past six years, it has engaged professionals from ICIMOD’s seven out of eight regional member countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan), reflecting the transboundary nature of river basin challenges in the HKH. Participants represented a wide spectrum of institutions, including government ministries, hydrology and meteorological departments, energy authorities, river basin organisations, academic institutions, and civil society organisations.
Since 2019, this annual training has continued to play a crucial role in breaking down traditional sectoral silos within river basin management. By bringing together professionals from diverse disciplines, the program fosters cross-sectoral understanding and collaboration. Participants develop a systems perspective, gaining insights into how upstream cryosphere dynamics influence downstream water availability, and how cryosphere science can inform risk management planning and basin-scale water governance.
Interactive modules, case studies, and scenario-based exercises encourage teams to work jointly on real-world challenges, such as glacier lake outburst floods, springshed management, integrated flood management, drought management, Nature-based Solutions, and many more. This collaborative approach helps participants appreciate the interdependencies between their respective domains, allowing for more coordinated strategies in early warning systems, infrastructure planning, and climate adaptation measures.
From online learning to real-world practice
The course continues to be highly sought after for the region’s water professionals, with the number of applicants increasing every year. In 2025, nearly 200 participants completed the online course. Selected participants were chosen for the onsite learning component, offering IRBM modules through a MOOC. This ensures professionals across the region can access the fundamental principles of holistic basin management.
Designed for policymakers, practitioners, and early- to mid-career professionals, the MOOC provides a strong foundation in river basin planning by integrating core Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) principles with an IRBM approach emphasising learning the biophysical processes, climate and hazard dynamics, governance and institutional frameworks, and socio-economic dimensions. Delivered through modular online content combining expert lectures, regional case studies, interactive exercises, and peer exchange, the course links science, policy, and practice while highlighting emerging priorities such as water diplomacy, leadership, youth engagement, and gender equality and social inclusion (GESI). The MOOC also serves as a common entry point to ICIMOD’s broader multiscale IRBM capacity development programme.
The onsite learning component of the IRBM course provides participants with the opportunity to translate theoretical concepts into practice by applying multiscale thinking in real river basin settings. Six top-performing attendees from the 200 who completed the online course in 2025 were selected for the field exposure visits to the Yangtze River Basin. Visits to various water infrastructure sites in Chengdu, Chongqing, and Wuhan provided a comprehensive overview of basin-scale planning and management, including watershed and hazard modelling, urban ecological restoration initiatives, and approaches to biodiversity-sensitive hydropower development. This includes a visit to the Three Gorges Dam and the Gezhouba Dam, which offer concrete examples of how large-scale infrastructure is planned and managed within a complex governance, institutional, social and environmental context.
The phased learning components of combining online instruction with field exposure strengthened participants’ ability to translate analytical frameworks into informed, context-specific decision making at the river basin scale, while also being capacitated to adapt and integrate holistic practice within their own country contexts. This reinforces both the scale and depth of IRBM capacity development.
Strengthening regional cooperation and early uptake
Feedback and tracer assessments are an integral part of the training. Findings from the survey for the 2025 cohort indicate that participants gained significantly greater confidence in applying IRBM concepts within institutional and policy settings. Participants brought real-world governance challenges into discussions, including fragmented mandates, limited availability and accessibility of basin data, and coordination gaps across sectors and administrative scales.
These assessments reveal early uptake of training insights in national planning. Bhutan’s Department of Water is actively considering integration of hydrological planning, climate resilience, and risk reduction strategies into the upcoming river basin management plan.
With over 1,000 views and nearly 500 downloads, ICIMOD’s IRBM resource book is referenced by participants for applying IRBM principles in policy development, planning, and basin-level dialogue. The training is helping bridge the gap between theoretical frameworks and actionable strategies.
The figure below showcases past participants’ evaluation of the course in strengthening their ability to initiate dialogue at the basin level and promote integrated approaches in planning, policy development, and project design. The module on youth leadership and GESI perspectives emphasises inclusive governance as essential for climate-resilient and socially equitable river basin management.
Collectively, these outcomes provide strong early uptake and regional signals. Knowledge and skills gained from the training are beginning to influence practical decision making, foster collaborative approaches across sectors, and promote more integrated and resilient river basin governance across the HKH region.
Strengthening learning-to-action pathways
While the outcomes are encouraging, significant work remains before IRBM is fully embedded across the HKH river networks. Sustaining IRBM practice continues to be a challenge due to limited institutional capacity, frequent staff turnover across the region, and limited mandates for water-related governing bodies, all of which affect long-term uptake within agencies. While the MOOC has broadened access, maintaining participant engagement in online formats requires continuous attention to interactive methods, structured pacing, and institutional support mechanisms.
However, the cumulative impact of the programme is becoming evident. Over the past six years, ICIMOD’s IRBM capacity-building initiatives have reached more than 80 professionals through in-depth training. This expanding network of IRBM-informed practitioners provides an important foundation for peer learning, regional dialogue, and longer-term institutional change.
The 2025 blended learning model demonstrates the potential of combining scalable digital learning with targeted field-based experience to strengthen IRBM capacity across diverse institutional and basin contexts. Moving forward, priorities include making IRBM more accessible to youth and early-career professionals, strengthening mentorship and alumni networks, and embedding applied learning within participants’ home institutions.
Sustained efforts will be required to support regional member countries in integrating IRBM into national planning processes, expanding access to modelling tools and data platforms, and facilitating basin-level dialogue where ICIMOD can play a convening and knowledge-sharing role. As climate-driven pressures on water systems intensify across the Hindu Kush Himalaya, blended, inclusive, and practice-oriented capacity development will remain essential for advancing resilient and equitable river basin governance.
Additional resource
Online e-course on springshed management: https://learn.icimod.org
