The Living Polders project serves as an important training ground for many people, both in Bangladesh and the Netherlands. Apart from the stakeholders who may have learned a thing or two from participating in our workshops (where project staff learned a thing or two or more from them), the project can claim to have formally contributed to capacity building through the training of the following (37) persons, both in Bangladesh and the Netherlands.

Main Researchers

Md Feroz Islam (Ph.D. candidate) is being trained on-the-job through a state-of-the art supervision arrangement that meets the standards of Utrecht University’s graduate school. Supervision is provided by experts from Utrecht University’s department of Sustainable Development, and the department of Physical Geography, as well as from BUET and Khulna University in Bangladesh. New capacities include advanced modeling, transdisciplinary collaboration, stakeholder engagement and context analysis.

Sanchayan Nath (Post doctoral researcher) worked in close collaboration with and received supervision from the same institutes.  The capacities that improved as a result of his involvement in the project include action research, transdisciplinary collaboration, stakeholder engagement and context analysis.

M.Sc. Students – BUET

The following M.Sc. students from BUET (Water Resources Development) benefited from capacity building when doing their thesis work within the realm of the project. As a result of their engagement with the project they managed to improve capacities related with their disciplinary knowledge and learned first-hand about delta societies and systems under pressure. Their main supervisor was Md. Shah Alam Khan.

M.Sc.Students – Utrecht University

Anouk Vegter and Jeroen de Bruin wrote their respective M.Sc. thesis for the Sustainable Development program of Utrecht University on topics related with the project. Luc Essink did his thesis research as part of the Water Science & Management program. All three spent several months in the field. That experience trained them in action research, transdisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder engagement, and allowed them to furthermore improve their respective disciplinary skills. Anouk worked under the supervision of Frank van Laerhoven, Jeroen was supervised by Jasper Griffioen. Luc was guided and trained by Stefan Dekker.

M.Sc. Student – Erasmus Mundus

Morsheda Begum did her thesis work as a student in the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Water and Coastal Management program. She was supervised by Hans Middelkoop and Feroz Islam.

B.Sc.Students – Utrecht University

Marijn Engelen and Aris Kwadijk did their B.Sc. Physical Geography thesis project on Tidal River Management in the project area. Davie Vuurboom did his B.Sc. Earth Sciences thesis research on a similar topic, also with regard to the project area in particular. They worked under the supervision of Hans Middelkoop and Feroz Islam. Through their involvement they managed to improve their skills and understanding with particular regard to sediment processes in the lower Ganges delta and in beels, but also learned 1D and 2D numerical modelling for analyzing sediment trapping.

Research Assistants – Social Science Research

A large number of students from various universities in Bangladesh assisted Sanchayan Nath in the implementation of his research. The training that they received from Sanchayan regards interview skills (in-person, semi-structure and survey interviews; telephone interviews); data storage and data base management;  participatory observation; and interview transcription and coding.

Research Assistants – Natural Science Research

Through their involvement in the research of Feroz Islam, and under the supervision of Atik Islam the following students from Khulna University got formal training in sampling and sample lab analysis methods, but also gained experience in focus group discussion, key informant interviews, and workshops.

• Shaikh Md. Mahady Hassan, BSc student, Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Asif Newaz, Bsc Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Syed Hasib Ali, Bsc Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Mukta Dutta, Bsc Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Anika Yesmin, BSc student, Urban and Rural Planning Discipline
• Rezaul Karim, BSc student, Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Mondira Bardhan, Bsc Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Quazi Aseer Faisal, BSc student, Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Saiful Alam, BSc student, Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Saiful Islam Imran, BSc student, Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Md. Mashiur Rahman Sifat, BSc student, Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University
• Rajib Roy, BSc student, Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University