Deltacountry Colombia

This approach promotes sustainable and integrated water management through long-term partnerships and leverages experiences and results from previous Partner for Water programmes. Discover our partnership with Colombia and how you can participate below.

Partners for Water uses its network, knowledge and financing to work on water security challenges in partner countries. This is accomplished by applying the expertise in sustainable, integrated, inclusive and innovative water management from the Dutch- and local water sectors in early planning phases.

In Colombia, we cooperate with the Colombian national and local governments, private sector, NGOs, academia and community organisations to enhance water security and climate change adaptation in the country’s delta cities and agricultural regions. We do this in close collaboration with local and international, private and public partners and local stakeholders. An important part of our approach is that we aim to adopt inclusive processes when addressing local water challenges or developing water-management solutions.

Implementation of masterplans
Partners for Water supports the Colombian government in the implementation of their master plans in the areas of Coastal Erosion, Dredging and River Transport. The work we do is defined in active collaboration with national ministries and local stakeholders. Examples of activities include case studies and the design of concrete innovative solutions with Dutch private and public parties and Colombian partners.

Supporting the water-biodiversity-food nexus
The water- biodiversity -food nexus is one of the central components of Partners for Water’s work in Colombia, targeting the northern Magdalena region. Through partnerships with private sector organisations, we work on the adoption of technologies for increased water efficiency and more environmentally friendly practices for agricultural production.

The focus lies on sustainable palm oil- and coffee production with improved water and nutrient efficiency, enhancing water storage to support the sustainability of banana cultivation, and developing governance and information systems to address Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at the watershed level.

Water as Leverage
Partners for Water aims to utilise the Water as Leverage approach in its support towards Colombia’s water challenges, specifically as part of the Water as Leverage Cartagena – Construyendo con el agua partnership. Through this approach, weto develop innovative and integrated projects through an inclusive process. Within this programme, two multidisciplinary teams, consisting of Colombian, Dutch and international experts, are generating innovative solutions to address climate change adaptation and urban water management challenges, in close collaboration with local citizens. Learn more about it here.