Water and environment newsletter. No. 14

The IAEA has played a major role in developing isotope hydrology as a discipline and in building a cadre of trained isotope hydrologists world wide. In addition, Agency publications have served as a primary source of written material for training and education in isotope hydrology. To date, these efforts for capacity building in isotope hydrology have focused on individual or group training of hydrologists who were active in research and field applications. More than seven hundred fellowships with an average duration of 3 months have been awarded over the last four decades for training at the Agency's Headquarters or at other established isotope hydrology centers. These fellowships have typically included some classroom instructions and intense interaction with one or more experts to develop skills in data gathering and interpretation. Group training events involving national, regional, and inter-regional courses of varying duration from one to eight weeks have been conducted with more than six hundred participants. Extensive on-the-job training has also been provided through technical cooperation projects. Advanced training to participants from developing member states has also been provided through Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs). Some of the CRP participants may have received their initial training through fellowships supported by the Agency. A CRP affords a less experienced researcher the opportunity to improve his or her skills by interacting with others, including experienced researchers, while working on a common research theme. Availability of trained scientists with competence in isotope hydrology has improved the implementation of technical cooperation projects by interfacing indigenous capability with outside experts and developing capacity for related research. However training events have been steadily increasing in recent years owing to an explosive growth in technical cooperation projects. For example: 51 technical cooperation projects in isotope hydrology were completed between 1980 and 1990. This number increased to 141 for the period 1991-2000. Presently, about 56 projects are active for the 2001-2002 cycle, with two regional projects designed specifically for capacity building The increased demand for training in all aspects of isotope hydrology, even in Member States where such activities have been ongoing for many years, results largely from a lack of continuing transfer of imparted knowledge and skills to a new generation of hydrologists. The Agency's training programmes in isotope hydrology have historically relied almost exclusively on continuing education. However, continuing education in a discipline can be more effective if basic training is included in the formal education phase. This warrants refocusing of the Agency's training to include formal education in isotope hydrology