The second IKANED Professional Seminar Series was held successfully on July 7, 2010 in Jakarta. It was conducted on the occasion of the visit of Dr. F. X. Suryadi, Senior Lecturer in Land and Water Development at UNESCO – IHE, Institute for Water Education Delft. The seminar was attended by 40 people, most of them UNESCO – IHE alumni, but also others interested in the topic, such as representatives from Jakarta Capital City Administration, The House of Regional Representative and the Netherlands Embassy.
In the opening remarks, Mr. Marrik Bellen, Director of Nuffic Neso Indonesia emphasized the importance of both professional and academic networking for Holland Alumni in Indonesia. In order to facilitate this, Nuffic Neso Indonesia, in co - operation with IKANED is committed to conduct the Seminar Series on a regular basis. The next seminars are planned in August (with guest lectures from UT/ ITC), November (Leiden) and December (Nijmegen/ Maastricht).
Dr. Robiyanto Hendro Susanto from Universitas Sriwijaya (UNSRI) Palembang, joined as a co – speaker and added valuable insights both on the subject as well as on real example of institutional co – operation between UNESCO – IHE and UNSRI.
The effects of climate change and land subsidence on water management systems in rural (Telang, South Sumatra) as well as urban (Kelapa Gading, Jakarta) areas were discussed. From the analyses one can conclude that land subsidence has more effects to water management zoning by lowering the land elevation than sea level rise, which nowadays is a big issue all over the world.
The most important conclusion is that the groundwater extraction has to be controlled in a proper way and all water management components have to be evaluated in relation to their flow capacity, stability and availability. Prevention efforts to reduce or even avoid land subsidence are needed to overcome any negative impact which may occur in future, while for climate change it needs wider or even global co – ordination to minimize or to reduce its rate. Therefore, next to capacity building, structural and non – structural measures are needed. In case drainage by gravity will not be possible anymore, a polder with pumping system has to be considered. In addition, a zonation system for the land use can also be considered to minimize flood problems.
In the aftermath of the meeting, almost all participants joined the social networking event, which was not only a joyful meet and greet for everybody, but also provided opportunity to post additional questions to both speakers.
