Watershed degradation poses a global challenge by threatening water security, biodiversity, and local economies, with nearly half of the world`s rivers impacted by human activities. Despite considerable efforts, traditional watershed restoration practices have often achieved limited success because they overlook the inherent interconnections among Earth's domains. To advance watershed restoration, the North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power (NCWU) is proud to host the UNESCO Chair 2026CN3664 entitled Stepwise Ecological Restoration of Watersheds (SEROW).
The Chair will generate new knowledge on hydrological and ecological processes, develop innovative, nature-based restoration methodologies tailored to local contexts, and establish an international research network to promote knowledge sharing and capacity building. Through training programs, it will empower local communities, policymakers, and water managers to implement sustainable restoration projects. By integrating local knowledge with scientific data, the Chair will ensure context-specific and culturally appropriate strategies. It will also provide science-based guidelines for policymakers to design effective watershed management policies, particularly in transboundary contexts.
SEROW is the result of prolific collaborations between NCWU and worldwide leading universities and institutions as: Foundation for Sustainable Development, the Netherlands, China South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route Corporation Limited, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation, the U.S., IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, the Netherlands, Central European University, Austria, University of California, Berkeley, the U.S., University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Maimonides University, Argentina, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China, Kazakh National University of Water Management and Irrigation, Kazakhstan, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe.
These international partnerships form the foundation of the SEROW`s mission for advancing integrated watershed restoration research and sharing innovative solutions on a global scale.
