WaterUP is the pilot project for the Global Water School. Arup-developed mobile catchment data acquisition applications and catchment process models will be used to research and film successful, traditional water management methods in India. Soft engineering approaches backed by credible science, will investigate effective community-led landscape restoration.

To prove effectiveness, the final deliverables from this work in India will be tested, validated and refined in remote parts of Colombia where culture and language are vastly different. Colombia is considered by many to be the source of the SDG after their introduction at the Rio+20 preparation meeting in Indonesia in 2011, and is very diverse in language, culture and water management problems.

WaterUP will provide a scientific understanding of natural catchment measures to upskill communities in a friendly and accessible way.