UMCSAWM Overview

UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Centre for South Asia Water Management (UMCSAWM), University of Moratuwa is a regional centre dedicated to achieving regional cooperation through higher education in the vital field of sustainable water resources management which is the backbone of a sustainable world for our future generations.

There are two vital parameters for Sustainable Water Resources Management. One is the knowledge of the importance and value of water. The other is the sustainability of the development of water infrastructure. This is the key to saving our precious water and the world, from environmental deterioration.
UMCSAWM is targeting the empowerment and transformation of practitioners to become capable problem solving leaders relentlessly promoting a sustainable world through sustainable water resources management.

UMCSAWM project had been in existence since 2010. Seeds were sown in 2003 with the conceptual proposal in front of the visionaries. It was rooted in 2010 with the signing of the project initiation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the University of Moratuwa and the South Asia Foundation (SAF). Greened by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 2012 with the approval for the Master’s Degree Program and facilitation in 2013 with the commissioning of the Centre Building, the flowing of benefits to the world began with the first intake in August 2013.
This is the 9th year of the Centre and the Regional MSc Program with its ongoing 7th Intake has so far hosted 46 full‐time regional overseas students from SAARC countries and 70 local participants, organized the UMCSAWM Water Conference 2017, and six international workshops benefitting a large crowd of civil engineering practitioners and others in the water sector. The Centre is also engaged in pioneering water research in areas of relevance to South Asian countries and the measures are in discussion to expand centre activities further.