Young Water Diplomats Programme 2027: IHE Delft Applications Open

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education is inviting early-career diplomats and professionals to apply for the Young Water Diplomats Programme 2027, a six-month hybrid advanced training course on international water and environmental politics. The programme runs from 4 February to 7 July 2027, and applications close on 30 November 2026 at 23:59 CET.

What the programme offers

The course is aimed at young professionals with a background in foreign affairs, international law, international relations or related fields. It is designed to give them up-to-date scientific knowledge on water and its management, including the challenges that water resources and related ecosystems face from climate change and infrastructure development. It also gives participants practical tools for transboundary water governance.

Participants will learn to:

• understand key aspects of water resources management, including the hydrological cycle, monitoring and modelling, infrastructure effects, climate change impacts and integrated water resources management;
• understand and apply different tools of water diplomacy;
• work across disciplines and cultures to solve problems;
• compare lessons from water conflict and cooperation in basins worldwide;
• evaluate the challenges facing transboundary surface water and groundwater under different environmental and socio-political conditions; and
• assess institutional arrangements for water cooperation and transboundary governance.

Format: online learning and two workshops

The programme combines online and in-person learning through lectures, reading assignments and group work. It includes bi-monthly online webinars throughout the six months and two face-to-face workshops:

• Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 12–15 April 2027. The first workshop is organised with the Scientific-Information Center of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia (SIC ICWC) and includes participation in the 8th Water and Peace Seminar.
• Delft, the Netherlands, 5–7 July 2027. The second workshop takes place at IHE Delft.

Attendance at both in-person sessions is mandatory. Webinars are held on weekdays during working hours in the CET time zone. Participants should expect to spend about four hours a week on the programme, which comes to 152 hours in total, or an average of 16 hours a month. Mandatory activities include two webinars a month, preparatory readings, group work, self-paced individual assignments and the two workshops.

Who can apply

Applicants should:

• hold at least a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, preferably in international relations, international law or related fields;
• be at an early stage of their career, with priority given to applicants under 40;
• have relevant work experience in international relations, foreign affairs, diplomacy, conflict resolution or cooperation, preferably on environmental or water-related issues; and
• have a strong command of English, including the ability to read academic literature and communicate ideas clearly.

Cost and fellowships

The programme fee is €1,500 excluding VAT. It does not cover travel, visa, insurance, living expenses or accommodation for the workshops in Uzbekistan and the Netherlands.

A limited number of partial or full fellowships are available for applicants from least developed, low-income and lower-middle-income countries through the IHE Delft Water and Development Partnership Programme (DUPC3), under its Cross-regional learning for transformative water diplomacy (CroWD) project. Applicants from upper-middle-income countries may be considered for a partial scholarship case by case. Eligibility follows the OECD’s latest DAC list of Official Development Assistance recipients. Applicants indicate in the application form whether they want a scholarship, and they must provide a formal confirmation from their employer that they can commit the time needed for the six months.

How to apply

The group has a maximum of 18 participants a year, chosen competitively on the eligibility criteria and the motivation statement. Applicants must create an IHE account and complete the online form. They need to prepare:

• a motivation statement in the required template;
• a bachelor’s diploma and transcript;
• a curriculum vitae; and
• a copy of an identity document.

Background: the CroWD project

The programme is offered under the CroWD project, funded by the IHE Delft Partnership Programme for Water and Development of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. CroWD is a four-year project that aims to build a community of engaged early-career and advanced scholars who advance water diplomacy and share that knowledge with practitioners. The programme has run since 2022. IHE Delft reports that 18 early-career professionals completed the 2025 programme, and it has since profiled the Class of 2026.

The 2027 lecturers include Susanne Schmeier, Jenniver Sehring, Aaron Wolf, Leon Hermans, Bota Sharipova, Micha Werner, Tibor Stigter and Ilyas Masih, with guest practitioners from different transboundary basins. Mary Namukose, a water resources, climate and environment adviser from Uganda who took the 2024 course, called it an incredible experience and praised the amazing professors and fantastic networking opportunities.

Conclusion

The 2027 Young Water Diplomats Programme combines online learning, a workshop in Central Asia tied to the Water and Peace Seminar, and a closing workshop in Delft. With 18 places, a €1,500 fee and fellowships for eligible applicants, it is a competitive route into water diplomacy. The deadline is 30 November 2026 at 23:59 CET. Questions about content go to course coordinator Dr. Bota Sharipova, and questions about applications go to IHE Delft’s fellowship and admission officer.

Source: IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, “Young Water Diplomats Programme” course page (un-ihe.org).

Using the official page text, I corrected several things from my earlier draft:

• Fee and workshops: the fee is €1,500 excluding VAT, and the workshops are in Tashkent (12–15 April) and Delft (5–7 July), which I hadn’t been able to confirm before.
• Eligibility: under 40 is a priority, not a strict limit, so the article says “priority.”
• Fellowships: the official page names least developed, low-income and lower-middle-income countries for fellowships and says upper-middle-income applicants are considered case by case. I replaced the vaguer earlier wording.