Since 2019, RUAS runs a module called ‘No water no food’. The focus of the module is the Nile delta, food production, and the importance of the Nile for the food production and economy of the countries along the Nile River. Cairo University (CU) and RUAS developed and organize a joint ClimateCafé module; a 1-2 weeks pressure cooker in which Egyptian and Dutch students work in mixed teams on multidisciplinary challenges. The challenges are focused on climate change and agricultural water management, including; water pollution, water preservation, food production, and nature-based solutions. The joint module has been developed with the subject of Cairo and the Nile delta as a focus in which Dutch and Egyptian students work together in mixed teams. The Netherlands and the Rotterdam region are interesting case studies for CU on how to survive in densely populated areas, below sea level. For RUAS it is very important to provide a context-rich learning environment for the students and to integrate case studies in other parts of the world into the curriculum to diversify the context of knowledge application for students.
Activities
Minor resilient cities at RUAS
CU students can enroll in the minor program ‘Creating Resilient Cities’’, which runs twice a year at RUAS. By completing the minor the CU students will get 30 ECTS.
Three students from Cairo University came to RUAS to follow this minor. RUAS provided them with housing and they received a full Erasmus+ grant for the 5 months they spent in Rotterdam.
ClimateCafé Cairo and Nile Delta
Dates:
January 2023
January 2024
January 2025
Activities:
Due to the geographical distribution of waterways in Egypt, the country deals with environmental and water related challenges. During the ClimateCafé Cairo and Nile Delta, Egyptian and Dutch Water Management students collaborate in an international and multicultural context to combine knowledge and assess local water related issues. At the end of the week, the groups present their work and offer strategies to solve the issue of their chosen project to tutors, participants from previous ClimateCafé’s and the Dutch embassy of Cairo. The students hand-in a bilingual (Arab and English) video, you can view a selection of these videos here. Every edition, a new group of students and 3 RUAS tutors travel to Cairo for this event. The students receive a certificate of attendance.
RUAS international week
Dates:
January 2023
December 2024
Activities:
The Water Management bachelor programme of the School of Built Environment has hosted two international weeks that tutors from various partners and Erasmus+ projects (South-Africa, Phillipines, Indonesia, Cape Verde, Poland, Madagascar, Egypt) attended. The programme of this active week consisted out of lectures, knowledge exchange on water management and visits to local partners such as EMI and Blue City.
ClimateCafé Rotterdam
Dates:
April 2025
Activities:
In April RUAS invites 10 students and 4 tutors from Cairo University in Egypt to Rotterdam. The ClimateCafé will last for 2 weeks and is fully funded for the incoming invitees.
Partners
Faculty of Agriculture - Cairo University
The Faculty of agriculture of Cairo University deals with the agricultural production and governance aspects of Egypt’s water management and ensuring sufficient food production in Egypt. The Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning is committed to monitoring, developing, and promoting the best practices and understanding the society needs to create more liveable cities. During the fourth edition of Cairo Water Week (CWW) in October 2021, Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty pointed out the importance of concerted global efforts to deal with the challenges related to the most scarce and most important resource ever, which is water. “Without this cooperation, no country will be able to face these challenges alone because we live in one world and a common destiny.”
The School of Built Environment - Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences
The specialization of urban Water Management was established in 2007 at RUAS. The School of Built Environment runs the study programme Water Management, which has a focus on delta technology, delta design, and delta management. The Nile delta was selected by the course Water management as one of the focus deltas which integrates urban development, water management and food production.
