What is CARA?
CARA Member Universities
CARA Training to Date
CARA Networking
CARA Gender Equity Training
CARA Community Development
CARA is a water resource training network focusing on building local capacity to improve the management and protection of Central American water resources. Local capacity is built through high caliber M.Sc. programs, short courses, workshops, field practicum and applied research projects at each of the member universities. The CARA Network promotes a philosophy of partnerships and collaborations of water resource organizations from universities, governments, the private sector, non governmental organizations and international funding agencies.
Each CARA university is publicly-funded and has a mandate to connect to priority national development issues such as water supply, sanitation and watershed management. Each CARA M.Sc. program is supported by, and linked to, Canada and to each other via the CARA Network which facilitates academic collaboration and resource sharing. The CARA M.Sc. programs recognize the very high usage of groundwater in Central America and Bolivia (i.e. 70-90% of all water supplies) and thus a special emphasis is placed on capacity-building the area of hydrogeology and groundwater management.
The CARA M.Sc. programs are science-based but highly adapted to the context of each Central American country and focused on issues related to water supply, water quality and water management within the context of each country’s’ poverty reduction strategies. Each student studies full-time for two years and obtains an education that strives to be on par with a Canadian M.Sc. degree academically. Unlike most Canadian M.Sc. programs, students not only study water “science” but they also study water “management” from the cultural, social, economic, and developmental aspects. Students learn through formal classes, laboratories and community practicum’s how to apply good science to helping communities gain access to clean water and healthy watersheds but also to use water to help improve their livelihoods.
The “Central American Water Resource Management Network” was initiated in 1999 with five original members:
University of Costa Rica (UCR) – Masters in Hydrogeology and Water Resource Management
National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) – Masters in Water Science
University of Waterloo (Canada, UW) – supporting role
University of Calgary (Canada, UC) – supporting role
In 2005, two additional Central American universities joined CARA:
University of El Salvador (UES) – Masters in Groundwater Management
National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) – Masters in Water Resource Management
In 2007, a Bolivian university joined CARA:
To date, the CARA M.Sc. programs have trained a total of 74 students (36 at UCR, 18 at UNAN and 12 at USAC). This number includes UCR cycles 1 to 6 (1995-2006), as well as, UNAN and USAC cycles 1 and 2 (2001-2004). Of these, 33 are female and 41 are male. In addition, 5 CARA professors (3 female, 2 male; 2 from UNAN, 2 from UCR and 1 from USAC) were trained in the UC and UW M.Sc. programs and now occupy full-time faculty positions at their respective universities and are part of the team delivering the CARA M.Sc. programs. Two professors-in-training from UNAH are currently in the UC M.Sc. program and one from UES is studying in the UW M.Sc. program. The only Central Americans who study in Canada at the M.Sc. level are either current staff of the partner university or have had new faculty positions created for them. Several of the CARA M.Sc. graduates have taken positions at the CARA universities or other educational institutions in the region. Most graduates have taken professional positions (most often as “hydrogeologists”) within their respective countries and making solid contributions to the sector. These students are young, motivated and committed to careers their home countries. Short courses and workshops at UCR, UNAN and USAC have trained 1,760 water-sector professionals (564 female, 1196 male) in the region in themes (e.g. mathematical modeling, field methods, water quality/contamination, isotope hydrology, water policy/legislation, community participation, water economics, integrated water resource management) that were previously not offered in the partner countries.
The CARA Network focuses on capacity-building and applied research that links the six CARA M.Sc. programs to each other as well as the many other national and international stakeholder organizations relevant to each country’s water sector. The former has provided students with direct access to the distinct but complimentary strengths of each member university (currently hydrogeology at UCR, water quality at UNAN and agriculture at USAC). CARA has also linked these universities to numerous other academic programs, stakeholders, organizations, donors, etc. The CARA Network is one of the regional water networks within the United Nations’ CapNet . These international linkages provide enormous benefits in terms of the quantity and quality of academic resources available to each CARA M.Sc. student. This has led to programs of high academic standards and graduates prepared for high-level professional positions within their respective countries.
CARA M.Sc. students and professors learn about gender equity issues as it relates to them professionally as well as the broader water resource sector and the gender issues relevant at the community level. CARA students (and professors) receive formal training in gender equity in the context of the water sector in partnership with NGOs and the Gender and Water Alliance. A special effort is made to promote the CARA M.Sc. programs to young females with science or engineering degrees and then accommodate female and male students requiring flexibility as parents. Each CARA M.Sc. program has strived for gender equity and made efforts to provide a healthy (equal opportunity) environment where female and male professors have equal opportunity for faculty positions and a equitable position (e.g. salary) and working environment. To date, five of eight Central American professors trained (or currently being trained) at the University of Calgary or the University of Waterloo (in UPCD projects) have been female.
CARA M.Sc. students and professors learn about participatory development and community water projects and each CARA M.Sc. program now offers a short course in this area. The CARA Community Water Manual “Caminamos Juntos” is distributed to each student of the short course and many other professionals and organizations throughout Central America. The manual has a strong gender equity section and was written and designed to be very inclusive to females. The CARA M.Sc. students then practice what they have learned by conducting their mandatory thesis projects within municipalities and government water agencies to assist them with their priority water projects.
