The Adaptive Watershed

The document describes 'The Adaptive Watershed' (TAW), a training program structured into three themes: understanding the watershed and its people, making informed decisions for an adaptive plan, and committing to inclusive management. The program emphasizes a "plan–do–check–correct" approach to manage interlinked land, water, and human systems, specifically integrating climate change adaptation and gender equity. It aligns its objectives with four Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 5 (gender equality), and SDG 15 (life on land). The curriculum guides participants through mapping watershed resources, analyzing stakeholder power dynamics, identifying climate and non-climatic stressors, and developing SMART key performance indicators for monitoring and evaluation.

• The training program is built upon the concept of adaptive management, which utilizes a "plan–do–check–correct" methodology to ensure that implementation plans remain iterative in response to shifting natural, social, and economic priorities.
• The program explicitly links its training objectives to four specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 6 for integrated water resources management and community participation, SDG 13 for climate adaptation capacity, SDG 5 for women's leadership and rights in natural resources, and SDG 15 for incorporating ecosystem values into planning.
• A core component of the training involves analyzing the vulnerability of specific social groups, such as women, Indigenous Peoples, youth, the elderly, and specific castes, to both climatic hazards and non-climatic stressors.
• The program distinguishes between climatic hazards (such as drought, flooding, and hailstorms) and non-climatic stressors (such as dam construction, over-fishing, and political instability), noting that the latter can exacerbate the negative impacts of the former on ecosystems.
• The training provides a framework for managing under uncertainty, requiring participants to modify constraint-free goals into actionable and measurable ones based on climate predictions.
• The program emphasizes the use of SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, responsible and time-bound) key performance indicators (KPIs) and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems to track ecological, social, and economic progress.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2017). The Adaptive Watershed. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/the-adaptive-watershed-overview-training.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. The Adaptive Watershed. 2017. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/the-adaptive-watershed-overview-training.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=The Adaptive Watershed |date=2017 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/the-adaptive-watershed-overview-training.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2017adaptive, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{The Adaptive Watershed}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/the-adaptive-watershed-overview-training.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }