Often there are multiple terms and concepts that are used interchangeably to explain marginality. In the context of water and agriculture, should we use static definitions and understandings of who the marginal is or shall we consider it as a process?

H2Know is a podcast series by SciComm X, a key team member of project Aquamuse. Its goal is to deepen an understanding of water cultures across the world, but primarily in countries along the Blue Nile. Over the course of three seasons, with a fourth underway, H2Know has created a space for water experts and enthusiasts alike to learn about our collective fluid heritage.

Gillian Babb, an MSc student at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, conducted her fieldwork in the Maldives under the 3SWater Project and Water and Development Partnership Programme (WDPP). During her research in the islands of Mulah and Kolhufushi in the Meemu atoll, she explored the deep cultural and ecological connections between island communities and mangrove ecosystems. Through the voices and experiences of local women—known as Dhatthas—she documented traditional knowledge, daily practices, and poetic expressions that reflect the intertwined relationship between people, water, and the living landscape.

From 7th–11th July 2025, IHE Delft and partners conducted a Water Infrastructure Asset Management training in Siaya County, Kenya, under the EcoRural Project.

The sessions equipped local water providers and officials with practical tools for life-cycle costing, risk-based decision-making, and human-centered asset management.

Field visits and participatory discussions bridged theory and practice, fostering sustainable water system management.

The training emphasized data-driven planning, policy alignment, and community engagement, leaving a lasting impact on rural water resilience management

A podcast for the mapping community. Interviews with the people that are shaping the future of GIS, geospatial and the mapping world. This is a podcast for the GIS and geospatial community.

“Nile Pop: Music, poetry, and stories on a shared river” was organised on February 22, 2020, at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden (The Netherlands), as a collaboration between IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Stichting Zenobia, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, and the Africa 2020 workshop “The Nile: inclusion and exclusion over a transboundary resource”.

Nile Pop turned the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden’s Tempelzaal into a stage featuring presentations and performances by an international group of researchers and musicians. They showed how the Nile river has inspired popular culture in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, and how popular culture influences the way we understand the river, manage its water, and represent its infrastructure.

The event at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden and this special issue are part of the project “Open Water Diplomacy: Media, science and transboundary cooperation in the Nile Basin”, funded by the Water and Development Partnership program (Phase2), which is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.