Programs towards good aquatic stewardship practices
The course " Environmental Engineering" offered in both the Architectural Engineering and Civil Engineering programs is directly related to the environment. It focuses on practical activities, experiments, and analysis of water quality in different locations of Bahrain. The course aims to educate students on improving water quality, preserving it for human health and welfare, and protecting marine life. In the Graduation Project course of the Civil Engineering program (Project), students work on projects related to ecosystem improvement and preservation. These projects align with the course's focus on environmental engineering and emphasize the importance of protecting and enhancing ecosystems.
Dr. Rouya is currently involved in a university project on Urban Flood Risk Assessment based on GIS and a hydrodynamic model. The project aims to develop urban flood risk maps to assist government efforts in upgrading and maintaining stormwater infrastructure. Additionally, the project seeks to raise awareness and provide guidance on implementing strategies to protect populations and assets from the risk of rain floods.
Dr. Rouya and Marwan Aouad have co-authored a paper titled "Climate change adaptation: The opportunities of crowdsourced data to monitor the effectiveness of stormwater management systems." The paper is currently undergoing revision for the "International Conference on Sustainable Futures" scheduled for December 5th and 6th, 2023, in Abu Dhabi.
Another research project led by Dr. Rouya focuses on watershed management and the development of coupled hydrological and hydraulic models for water resources management and flood risk mitigation. Two papers have been published as part of this project:
Paper 1 Citation: Hdeib R., Abdallah C., Colin F., Brocca L., Moussa R., 2018. "Constraining coupled hydrological-hydraulic flood model by past storm events and post-event measurements in data-sparse regions." Journal of Hydrology, October 2018, Volume 565, pages:160-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.08.008
Paper 2 Citation: Hdeib R., Moussa R., Colin F., Abdallah C., 2020. "A new cost-performance grid to compare different flood modelling approaches." Hydrological Sciences Journal, Feb. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2021.1873346
These projects and research align with the sustainable development goal (SDG) 15 indicators related to minimizing alteration of aquatic ecosystems, monitoring the health of aquatic ecosystems, promoting good aquatic stewardship practices, collaborating for shared aquatic ecosystems, and implementing watershed management strategies based on the diversity of aquatic species in specific locations.