In line with the first pillar of the Urban Infrastructure Resilience program - capacity building - CDRI, in collaboration with Deltares and with the support of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands, have developed a training module on Urban Water Infrastructure Resilience. The training aims to strengthen the capacities of policy makers, local government officials, including city officials, academia, and training institutions from the global south to address the growing challenges of climate- and disaster-induced risks to urban water infrastructure.

The modules are divided into four sub-modules:

• Risk assessment for infrastructure resilience and urban development
• Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for urban resilience — their benefits, integration with traditional systems, and lessons from global case studies
• Sustainable finance for resilient urban water systems — exploring best practices, strategies, and challenges
• Multi-level governance for water-resilient cities — aligning disaster and climate risk management with water governance

These modules are designed in two formats:

• An online course, to be hosted on DRI Connect - CDRI’s knowledge sharing platform - and launched at COP30 in Belém, Brazil; and
• An in-person training program, for dissemination among CDRI’s member countries from the Global South.

Recently, CDRI conducted a pilot in-person training to test the module. The training was attended by over 30 participants from Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, which involved a diverse stakeholder group consisting of infrastructure professionals, urban planners, city officials, and academicians.

As a next step, we plan to offer the Online Course through CDRI’s Learning and Knowledge Portal- DRI Connect and also deliver in-person bespoke training programmes for CDRI member countries. The training programmes will be also organised for the countries covered under CDRI’s Urban Infrastructure Resilience Program (UIRP). Additionally, we look forward to partnering with training institutes across the member countries to broaden the reach of these programmes and engage wider audiences.