Transdisciplinary Research

A motivated, skilled and proactive Communication Professional with 8+ years’ experience in fostering positive relationships between organisations and their stakeholders. Profound understanding of the significance of pleasant stakeholder relationships, good publicity image, crisis and reputation management. Recognised for excellent planning, developing and implementing corporate research that informs 360 communication campaigns and innovative strategies.

I am an experienced Video Journalist & Documentary-Filmmaker with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Skilled in broadcast, Television production, Radio and Podcast Production, and Feature Films with a Diploma in Journalism and Bachelor’s Degree focused in Mass Communication/Media Studies and Journalism from Uganda Technology And Management University.

Dr. Fides J. Izdori is a water and sanitation expert at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with over 14 years of experience. Holding a Ph.D. in Engineering, her interests include advancing equitable access to safe water and sustainable sanitation. Her work integrates engineering and public health approaches in improving water quality, strengthening urban flood resilience, and promoting waste-to-resource innovations to safeguard community health to ensure inclusive and climate-resilient WASH solutions.

Annika McGinnis is a multimedia journalist and media development specialist from the U.S., based in Uganda, with 10+ years experience. She is the co-founder of InfoNile.org, an award-winning geojournalism platform and journalists' network focused on data-based stories on water and environment in the 11 countries of the Nile Basin, which is part of Water Journalists Africa. In 2022, InfoNile launched NileWell.org, the first online platform to connect water and environment journalists with scientists and researchers in the Nile Basin. As a journalist, Annika has also reported for Reuters, USA TODAY, and McClatchy Newspapers in the U.S. She is a CIVICUS Goalkeeper, Pulitzer Center and National Geographic Society Grantee, and former Global Health Corps Fellow. She also has 5 years experience leading programs and strategy at the Media Challenge Initiative, a media development non-profit based in Kampala. Annika graduated from the University of Maryland summa cum laude with degrees in Multiplatform Journalism, International Development, and French.

Fredrick is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity at London School of Economics and Political Science in London researching about water inequality. He is an award-winning conservation journalist who reports stories about water, wildlife, and climate change. As a journalist and National Geographic Explorer, he has travelled around the world, including Africa, Europe, Asia, the USA, and South America, to report on conservation topics. He also trains others about these topics. He founded Water Journalists Africa (WJA), a non-profit media development organisation with membership of over 3000 journalists spanning 50 African countries. WJA fosters in-depth reporting on critical environmental issues, including water, climate change, and wildlife. Its flagship project, InfoNile, is a pioneering geojournalism initiative that facilitates cross-border collaborations, offers environmental and data reporting training for journalists, and champions investigative storytelling within the Nile basin. WJA also operates Nilewell, a platform designed to connect environmental researchers, scientists, and journalists. It also runs Apes Reporting Project which brings together journalists from 21 African countries to promote the conservation of apes through journalism. Fredrick is a fan of cosmology. He is a member of the Interstellar Foundation, a US-based organisation committed to crafting and dispatching human-made artifacts beyond Earth.

Ali Mohamed A. Elhaj (32), Ali has a Bachelor degree in Political Science and a Master Degree in Political Science (Governance and Public Administration) from the University of Khartoum, Sudan. Young water researcher joined to The Hydraulics Research Center (HRC -Sudan) since 2015, specialized in the fields of : (Water Governance\ policy –Water Diplomacy\transboundary cooperation– Socioeconomic Studies in water sector). During his period at HRC he was involved in many research studies related to water sector planning, management and development. Ali participated in many national and international courses/ program/workshops relevant to water and sustainable development issues (Netherlands, Ethiopia, Turkey,.. etc.), and he is a member of several national and international bodies such as: Sudan National Committee for Irrigation and Drainage (SNCID), International Committee for Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) - Irrigation Management and development group work, and National Water Resources Development Unit – Irrigation Group work, . Ali is a member of Executive office of the Sudan Youth Parliament for water ( SYPW), Sudan.

Researcher/Lecturer in hydrology and water resources engineering, focusing on irrigation management and development. The intention is to produce water management practices and policies that associated with rural development and natural resources sustainability. Research domains are: large scale irrigation schemes, enhancement of agricultural productivity, and integrated water resource management. Current main research is Performance Evaluation of Irrigation Projects, which aims to achieve sustainability of irrigation projects in developing countries, focusing on food and water security as tool for rural development. Having worked with project management in academia and research organizations, he has developed a structured mindset, to deliver high-quality results. This experience had been gained by playing different management roles, such as project team leader, project logistic manager, and research projects supervisor. Duties include progress reports, logistics, and budget control.

Dr. Ishraga Osman is the head of Civil Engineering Department, University of Khartoum. She is the first female to hold this position since the establishment of the aforementioned department. She is a researcher at Water Research Center, University of Khartoum. Dr. Ishraga has a PhD degree in Sediment and Water management in irrigation canals from UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and Wageningen University, the Netherlands in 2015. She has M.Sc degree from University of Khartoum in Water Resources Engineering in 2007 and BSC degree in Civil Engineer, University of Khartoum in 2002. Her research interests in water resources engineering, irrigation and drainage water management. She involved in academics, capacity building and consultations works related to irrigation water management, integrated water resources management and design of different irrigation systems and hydrological studies.

Dr. NGUYEN Hong Quan is currently an associate professor at the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh city (VNU-HCM). He is leading a newly established Institute for Circular Economy Development (ICED) and also affiliated with socio-hydrology group at center of Water management and Climate Change (WACC), Institute for Environment and Resources (IER), VNU-HCM. He has a special interest in solving environmental related issues based on inter/trans-disciplinary study and by a strong partnership among academia-industry-government. He has been working in environmental hydrology (e.g. saline intrusion, flood/drought, water pollution) in Southern Vietnam over the past 20 years and expanded his expertise in other disciplines e.g. climate change adaptation/mitigation, circular economy, socio-ecological system, sustainability science. His publications can be found at: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=i-nknv0AAAAJ&hl=en

Dr. Nguyen Minh Tu is a senior researcher at the Institute for Circular Economy Development (ICED), Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNU - HCM). He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences at the University of Bonn and a Master's degree in Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics and Subtropics at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, both in Germany. His main research interests focus on drivers of agricultural changes, resilience and vulnerability assessment of social-ecological systems, and application of the circular economy concept in agriculture. Dr. Nguyen is author of several journal articles in Environmental Science and Policy, Ecology and Society, and Journal of Flood Risk Management.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Binh is currently working as a lecturer and Secretary of the Council for Science and Education at the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute, Can Tho University, Vietnam. He has experienced qualitative and quantitative research approaches to sustainable agricultural transformation, rural livelihood analysis, water resource management, vulnerability assessment and climate change adaptation. He holds a Bsc. in Agronomy at Can Tho University, Vietnam, a Msc. in Rural Development - a joint academic degree of Ghent University (Belgium) with European Universities, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences at Bonn University, Germany.

Joel Onyango has worked for 15 years in research and management. Over his career, Joel has been involved in assignments across the African continent, contributed to resources mobilisation efforts of more than USD 20million, and developed open access documentation of reference to the entrepreneurship and sustainability ecosystem. He has supported work with a range of key stakeholders in the climate and innovation entrepreneurship space, both in Kenya and at the international level such as ANDE, TechnoServe, E4I, SBC and African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) among others. Joel holds a DBA from Aoyama Business School, Japan with a focus on Entrepreneurship Development has received Post-docs through ACTS on governance of sociotechnical transformation from University of Sussex in collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School, and UFZ-Leipzig, and on low emission development from Wageningen University. Joel is the current head of programme at ACTS focusing on building Climate Resilient Economies in Africa.

Gerold Winkler is Head of the IPGL-Office since 1998. IPGL is an education-, research- and networking hub with the mission to improve the sustainable management of freshwater ecosystems & its services in the global south and to contribute towards the achievement of the SDG’s. More than 650 water/environmental professionals from the global south have attended IPGL training programmes, research- and capacity development projects are developed/implemented and a large network of collaborating institutions and individuals has been established in the Global South. Gerold’ thematic interests are related to the conservation, biodiversity and sustainable management of freshwater ecosystems and the development of capacity development concepts/measures for institutions of higher education.

Prof. Kelvin Kabeti Omieno is a holder of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (First Class Honors), Master of Science in Information Technology, Master of Business Administration in Corporate Management and Doctor of Philosophy in Business Information Systems. Besides, Prof. Omieno poses Huawei Certified ICT Associate-Artificial Intelligence (HCIA-AI) and Certificate in Python Programming. He is Founding and Current Dean, School of Computing and Information Technology (SCIT), Kaimosi Friends University (KAFU) Has served before as Chairman of Department and Dean at both Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology and currently at Kaimosi friends University. He has several publications in peer reviewed journals; supervised and mentored PhD and MSc students and also involved in several researches. Prof Omieno is a professional member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a member of Internet Society (ISoC) and professional member of Association of Computing Practitioners-Kenya (ACPK).

Nora is an experienced researcher specializing in environmental change, agri-food systems, international development, and science, technology, and innovation policy. Her research focuses on inclusive innovation and sustainable development in Africa, innovation systems development and strengthening, as well as research commercialization and entrepreneurship. She also has expertise in stakeholder management, policy dialogues analysis and development, and science capacity development. Nora has received advanced training in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy and Management from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom, and proficiency training on the multidisciplinary multiple pathways approach to sustainability from the STEPS Centre, University of Sussex, UK. She is a Research Fellow at the African Centre for Technology Studies and a final-year PhD student at the University of Sussex. Nora's career passion lies in conducting innovative research and policy analysis that links multilevel policies to local resources and development realities, creating sustainable development opportunities for the poor.

Denise holds a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Marketing Communication from the University of the West Indies, a Postgraduate Diploma in Climate Change from the University of the South Pacific, and a Master’s of Science in Water Management and Governance from the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.

Nzula Kitaka is an associate professor and a researcher of “Aquatic/Water Science at Egerton University, Kenya. Currently she is the Vice President of Africa-UniNet, a Research consortium of African and Austrian Universities and former director Board of Postgraduate Studies (BPGS), Egerton University. Prof Kitaka has been involved in several collaborative initiatives both in research and capacity development for more than 20 years; Kenyan Team leader of Trans-Path Plan Project, N. Water E-Learning Hub: Training and Education Tools for Capacity Development among many. Prof Kitaka is the Kenyan coordinator of the “International Joint Degree in Limnology and Wetland Management” (LWM) in Partnership with Egerton University-Kenya, BOKU, Austria and IHE-Delft, The Netherlands. She has participated in establishment of other capacity development programmes in the region. Prof Kitaka was a founding council member, of the Eastern Africa Austrian Water Association (EAAWA) launched 2003, as a consortium of alumni of Austrian Scholarship Programme from East Africa, which transformed to “East Africa Water Association” (EAWA). She was the founding Kenyan Chapter secretary of EAAWA and later Secretary and National Chair of EAWA. Prof Nzula Kitaka has been a member of several advisory boards; Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) member for the European Union Water Initiative European Research Area Network (ERA-Net) “SPLASH” project in water and sanitation, National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) among many more

Christine Nyagaya is currently a PhD student at Egerton University Kenya, pursuing PhD in Limnology, under the Transformation pathways project. She did her MSc in Limnology still at Egerton University. She holds a BSc in Biotechnology from Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST). She had worked in MMUST as intern in the Department of Medical Sciences and in Kenya Dairy Board as laboratory technologist in the Compliance Department. Her area of interest in the research is to find out the impact of conversion of wetlands to arable lands on greenhouse gases emissions.

Dr. Mulinya is currently a Senior Lecturer of Geography (Climatology and Climate Change sciences and Director of Academic Linkages and International Relations at Kaimosi Friends University. She is trained in Physical Geography( Climatology and Climate Change Sciences). Her research interests are in Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation, and Finance in relation to water, Agriculture, Health, and energy. She has been involved in Research, Academics, and Consultancies related to Climate Change and Gender, Water, and Resource management conservation. Currently, involved in a project on watershed management and policies that drive and protect ecosystems from human and climatic change impacts.

Dr. Kipkemboi is Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Student Affairs and Research at Kaimosi Friends University. He attained undergraduate in training basic sciences Botany/Zoology from Egerton University, Kenya and post graduate training in environmental Sciences IHE Delft, Institute for Water Education in The Netherlands. He has been involved in several local and international collaborative and multidisciplinary research projects. His area of interest in wetlands ecology and management, environmental systems analysis, and climate change. He has supervised and examined several undergraduate and postgraduate students and has contributed to global scientific knowledge platform through scientific publications. He is currently involved in transformative pathway for natural resources management and technological applications in environmental monitoring. His also has an interest in nature based solutions and climate change adaptations.

Risper Ondiek is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Biological Sciences at Egerton University in Kenya. Having been involved in several wetland and water related research projects in the N. Basin for the past 7 years, her research interest lies in understanding how agricultural expansion influences wetland ecosystem services particularly water purification, carbon storage and greenhouse gases emissions, and provisioning ecosystem services. She is currently, a postdoc working on transformations to sustainable utilization of Yala basin wetlands, Kingwal and Yala, in Kenya. She is also a resource person for the Joint International Master’s Programme in Limnology and Wetland Management at Egerton University.

Patricia works in the field of sustainable transformations. She is director and co-founder of the NGO Umbela Transformaciones Sostenibles (https://en.umbela.org/), based in Mexico City. Her work focuses on fostering transformations towards sustainability of social-ecological systems through the creation and facilitation of collaborative spaces to articulate the diversity of cultures and knowledges. She is a Biologist with a Master's degree in Biological Sciences and a PhD candidate in Sustainability Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Patricia has experience in the design and coordination of projects with a diversity of social actors using inter and transdisciplinary approaches, participatory tools and methodological pluralism on issues related to the creation of collaborative networks for sustainability, implementation of sustainable productive practices for conservation, monitoring of aquatic socio-ecological systems, citizen science, among others.

Beatriz has worked with interdisciplinary groups in various ecosystem scenarios, including forest conservation areas, oceanic ecosystems (Colombian Pacific), wetlands, Andean forests, and border areas between countries such as the Amazonian Triple Border between Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Her experience in socio-environmental research began with her Bachelor's degree in Environmental Management, Master's degree in Family Agriculture and Sustainable Development, and recently with her PhD in Environmental Sciences. The projects in which she participates focus on participatory research at the community level and at various geographical scales, involving a diverse range of organizational and institutional actors within sustainable schemes. She is enthusiastic about planning and executing community and academic events, as well as working together with artistic contributions such as graphic design, photography, and short films that contribute to the circulation of knowledge and information. She is the Postdoc rese

Carlos has a degree in Urban Ecology and a PhD in Science and Technology from UNGS (Buenos Aires). He conducted postdoctoral research from 2020 to 2022 at CIGA-UNAM. He serves as the coordinator of the Latin American Network on Environmental Conflict Studies (www.redcolca.org). His research is primarily centered around applying complex systems and sustainability theories to the analysis of environmental issues. His areas of investigation include Urban Solid Waste management, its environmental impact, recycling practices, and the challenges faced by urban waste pickers. Additionally, his work extends to the sustainability of hydrological basins and water management, the transdisciplinary analysis of environmental conflicts, and the health and environmental concerns related to the Aedes aegypti species. Currently, Carlos is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Ecology, UNAM.

Beth is an Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies whose research addresses the causes and consequences of global environmental change on people, with a focus on access to water, flood risk, and land use change. She engages in multiple disciplines and methods to “socialize the pixel” or understand the social processes behind environmental change captured in satellite image pixels and leverage satellite data to improve human well-being. She is a co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Floodbase, a public benefit corporation that leverages remote sensing to build flood monitoring and mapping systems. In 2022 she won an award for leading women in Machine Learning and Earth Observation. Beth co-founded an NGO in Mexico, Umbela, to promote transformation from Global South Perspectives. Beth is passionate about co-producing knowledge with actors outside academia to achieve social impact. To learn more about her publications and projects see: https://beth-tellman.github.io

Jaime is an Associate Professor at the Center of Research in Environmental Geography, National Autonomous University of Mexico (Morelia, Mexico). He has an interdisciplinary background, with degrees in Environmental Science & Technology, Geography and Ecology. His research interests revolve around community-based natural resource management, conservation and territorial defense, with a particular focus on protected areas inhabited by indigenous / local communities that are engaged in struggles for environmental justice. He’s interested in collaborative scientific approaches that trigger transdisciplinary processes of co-production of environmental knowledge, social learning and grassroots innovation, and their potential in such struggles for imagining and enacting transformations toward just sustainabilities. A main area of interest has been the analysis of such processes in community environmental monitoring using technologies (e.g., drones, kits for in situ water quality analysis). His main focal areas of interest are water, forests and food systems.

Lakshmi works at the National Laboratory for Sustainability Sciences, Institute of Ecology (https://www.ecologia.unam.mx/), UNAM in research projects related to stakeholders' engagement, co-production and transformations to sustainability in Mexico. She has an interdisciplinary background, with degrees in biology (Bsc), environmental law, management and policy (MSc), and sustainability science (PhD). For the past thirteen years she has been involved in educational and capacity building projects related to wetland management, water governance, and transdisciplinarity. Her main research interest is exploring how certain relational methods might foster an increasing a sense of collective agency in transformation endeavors. She is the co-coordinates the Mexico City node that studies the urban wetland of Xochimilco.To find out more about her projects and publications: https://lancis.ecologia.unam.mx/personal/lakshmi/

Marisa received her doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering from UCLA in 1992. Currently, she is a senior researcher at the National Laboratory for Sustainability Sciences (Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad -LANCIS), at the Institute of Ecology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IE-UNAM). She has been Head of Department (2020-2022), and served as the Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Sustainability Sciences, UNAM (2015-2019). She teaches Principles of Sustainability at Graduate level (M.Sc. and Ph.D.), and a Workshop in the Faculty of Sciences at B.Sc. level on Monitoring of Socio-ecosystems, with emphasis in water resources. Her research interests include the intersection of water resources, health, and climate change, in urban and rural areas of Mexico. She has conducted water research projects in Xochimilco, the case study in Mexico, mainly focusing on water quality and health issues.

Alex López Alberola is a PhD researcher at the Organization and Governance section of the Technology, Policy, and Management faculty, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), The Netherlands. With a background in Sociology and Public Administration, his current focus of interest lies with understanding the way governance decisions and strategy affects the adaptivity of individuals to environmental change and the climate crisis in a technological and water-driven context. For the last few years, he has had an academic interest in the way innovative processes, both social and technological, intersect with communities struggling under societal change. This ultimately led to a keen interest in water-related problematics as they are at the nexus of this area of investigation. His research interests include human ecology, infrastructure studies, climate change and adaptation, environmental justice, adaptive capacity, environmental sociology, and (water) governance. He is currently working within the AGRICOAST project, researching adaptive governance dynamics of adaptation to drought and salinization in coastal areas to find new effective transformative pathways.

Sharlene Gomes is a lecturer in ‘Water & Environmental Policy Analysis’ at IHE Delft’s Land and Water Management Department, the Netherlands. Within the TRANS_PATH_PLAN project, she works within the ‘Learning’ sub-team, synthesizing insights and lessons across the project nodes. Some of her previous and current research experience includes the design and application of participatory adaptation pathways approaches to address water and related challenges in urban and peri-urban landscapes. She has worked across South Asia on the institutional analysis of peri-urban water issues. Sharlene was a contributing author to the IPCC’s 6th assessment report on climate change ‘Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability’ in Chapter 4 (Water).

Dr. Marloes Mul is an Associate Professor in Water Resources Management at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, where she currently leads the Water Accounting and Water Productivity team. The team develops different applications from irrigation scheme to river basin level using remote sensing data. Before joining IHE Delft, Marloes was based in the West Africa Office of IWMI in Accra, Ghana.

Ellen Minkman is an assistant professor in governance of socio-technical systems. Her research concentrates on water governance, in particular the exchange of water management practices, institutions and policies between the Netherlands and countries in the Global South. Previous research has shown how adaptive delta management as a concept traveled from the Netherlands to southeast Asia and current research aims to unravel how south-north policy learning may fuel transformative change. Within TRANSPATH, Dr. Minkman is involved in the Dutch cases.

Emanuele Fantini is Senior lecturer and researcher at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Department of Water Governance (Delft, The Netherlands). He holds a PhD in Political Sciences (University of Turin) and a European Master in Human Rights and Democratization (University of Padua). Emanuele’s research interests include: water governance, water conflicts and the human right to water, social movements, religion in public spaces (politics and development), media studies, visual research methods, with geographic focus on Ethiopia, the N. basin and Italy. Committed to public engagement and crossover projects with artists and journalists, Emanuele coordinates the project “Open Water Diplomacy. Media, science and transboundary cooperation in the N. basin”, he is the author and host of the podcasts “The Sources of the N.”, “The House of Water”, “Water Alternatives Podcast” and “Si dice acqua”, and he is the editor of IHE Delft Water Governance Blog, FLOWs.

Andres Verzijl joined the Water Governance Department of IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in 2021. His research focuses on water ontologies and environmental care, mainly in Andean mountains and Asian deltas. Andres is involved in several projects that look at local and indigenous ways of relating to water and mirrors these to modern science and government water policies among others for the TRANSPATHPLAN project in Sudan’s Scheme.

Esmee Bannenberg is an affiliated PhD candidate. She is part of the Dutch Research Council funded project ‘Living Dikes’, at the faculty of Technology, Policy and Management of the Technical University Delft. Her interest lies in socio-ecological systems and Nature Based Solutions, and her research focuses on supporting adaptive joint action in coastal protection projects. Her PhD aims to develop and test a structured approach that helps create a trusted basis for the dynamic implementation and adaptive management of living dikes, enabling this innovation to move beyond the research innovation and pilot phase. She has a background in the ecology of forest and nature conservation (Bsc), and marine governance (Msc).

Jaap Evers works at IHE Delft since 2011. He currently has the position of Senior lecturer in Water and Environmental Policy as a member of the Water Governance department. His main research interests revolve around the departments research line Policy and Organizations. Jaap's research interests relate to policy implementation, policy mobility, policy learning, policy -implementation- practices, and implementation feasibility in planning in the water sector. In IHE Delft's MSc Water and Sustainable Development, Jaap is involved in courses on Strategic planning and futuring, Finance and implementation, and Water Policy.

Leon Hermans works associate professor in the field of water and environmental policy analysis at IHE Delft and Delft University of Technology, both in the Netherlands. His research and teaching focus on methods to support informed decision-making on complex problems in multi-actor systems. He seeks to combine analytic rigour with policy relevance to achieve meaningful interactions among actors concerned with adaptative management of water systems. Leon contributes to interactive pathways planning approaches, monitoring and evaluation methods and the development of actor and strategy models. Recent research projects focused on water allocation institutions under climate change, on evaluating water partnerships, and on policy games and learning for climate-adaptive water management in the Netherlands and in countries in Asia and Africa.

Wim is an Associate Professor in Integrated River Basin management at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in Delft, the Netherlands. He has an educational background in urban and regional planning and holds a PhD from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He has wide expertise in the fields of water and environmental management, integrated planning and assessment for sustainable development, and the link to urban and regional planning. This expertise focuses at the delta and river basin scales. His experience covers training and education, multi-disciplinary research, institutional capacity building as well as policy advice. These activities are characterized by strong and long-term cooperation with academic and non-academic partners in developing countries to achieving strong local impact as well as enhancing local capacities. Wim's main region of work over 15 years is Asia, in particular South and South--East Asia.