Bangladesh’s coastal zone covers 32% of the country and is home to 26% of its population, generating an estimated 30% of national GDP. It faces a complex mix of water-related risks, including waterlogging, storm surges, salinity intrusion, riverbank and coastal erosion, sedimentation and subsidence, many of which are interlinked and increasingly shaped by climate change. At the same time, the region holds significant opportunities: fertile land capable of supporting diverse crop cycles, rich water resources for agriculture and aquaculture, and growing potential from ICT and innovation in water management.

WMKIP was structured around four innovation themes:

• Drainage Improvement
• Enhanced Operational Water Management and Monitoring
• River and Embankment Management and Protection
• Participatory Water Management as a cross-cutting theme.

WMKIP was delivered through four components:

• Innovation Development, testing sustainable water management innovations directly in the field.
• Horizontal Learning and Outreach, sharing knowledge between innovators, practitioners and stakeholders in Bangladesh and the Netherlands.
• A Knowledge Agenda on Water Management, contributing to a longer-term research and knowledge agenda for the coastal region
• Program Management, coordinating implementation across all components.

The program’s overall objective is to make an effective contribution to the medium and long-term development goals of the Southern Coastal Region through tested and sustainable water management innovations, knowledge development and participatory action research, with a strong emphasis on community engagement, resilience of water-dependent systems, and long-term partnership between Bangladeshi and Dutch knowledge institutions.