Transboundary water management in the Jordan River basin and the Blue Nile basin has historically been difficult. While water diplomacy surrounding the Jordan River is obstructed by decades of geopolitical conflicts between the riparians and unilateral infrastructure projects, cooperation over the Blue Nile has been hampered by conflicting views on water ownership and resource utilization for most of the 20th and 21st century.

The ultimate goal of the programme is to create a generation of young professionals who are dedicated to solving the current water problems by applying communication, collaboration and co-creation approaches that cut across political, practical and scientific domains.