14th July 2022: 60 engineers and other professionals in related fields have participated in a one-week ‘Summer School 2022’ on ‘Landslide Analysis and Slope Stability in Rwanda’, an educational course organized by IPRC Musanze in collaboration with the University of Parma (UNIPR) and the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB).

The ‘Summer School’ was funded by EnRHEd Erasmus Project. It entails both theoretical lessons and practical exercises using appropriate numerical codes designed specifically for slope stability analyses.

“Today, we are, more than ever, facing threats from the increased climate change and variabilities with heavy and intense rainfall triggering floods and landslides more frequently, sometimes finding us unprepared in some areas,”

“Flood and landslide-prone areas occupy a big share of the national territory, posing a threat to human security and the country's prosperity.” Dr. Emmanuel Rukundo, RWB’s DG.

Hence, the Government of Rwanda through RWB has developed and continues to develop many projects to address problems affecting the country's water resources, with erosion and landslides being among the most important to deal with, he reveals.

The main goals of the 'Summer School 2022' include improving the awareness of civil engineers about hydrogeological hazards in Rwanda, increasing the knowledge about the problem of landslides, bringing up the capability of tackling and solving slope stability problems, and introducing knowledge about problems associated with deforestation and solutions through replanting of soil slopes for stabilization purposes.

On the other hand, its closing ceremony has followed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between RWB and Rwanda Polytechnic regarding the establishment of a substantive collaboration to build knowledge, skills and capacity within the water sector.

Engineers speak out

One of the participants, Dieudonne Niyigena, appreciates the course for enhancing knowledge in analyzing the factors that trigger landslides and slope instability, as well as the preventive measures.

Dr. Hussein Bizimana, RWB’s Hydraulic Flood Modelling Specialist, notes that it is an academic opportunity that will equip trained engineers with advanced skills in dealing successfully with landslide occurrences and associated risks.