GEMS/Water has a long-standing relationship with partners in Sierra Leone. The head of the National Water Resources Management Agency (NWRMA) of Sierra Leone completed the university accredited courses designed by the GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre and GEMS/Water consulted NWRMA in the design of the national water quality monitoring programme and the integration of Citizen Science monitoring.
Last year, NWRMA indicated the need for consultation and training in the development of a data management system. To meet this requirement, GEMS/Water staff members visited NWRMA in Freetown, Sierra Leone from 23 to 28 February 2025, together with a colleague from Earthwatch Europe, and conducted a workshop on water quality data management and citizen science.
Management of NWRMA meeting with representatives of GEMS/Water and Earthwatch Europe
The workshop was initiated by an assessment of the current methods for data management and the existing capacities. This was followed by hands-on training of the NWRMA staff associated with the water quality monitoring programme. The training included an introduction to database principles and their role in data management, highlighted the importance of a centralized and controlled vocabulary for entries and keywords, and covered data quality checks and their integration in the data management workflow.
Personnel of NWRMA in a workshop with GEMS/Water representatives
Additional surveys were then conducted to get an impression of the current state of IT resources and the local requirements for a data management system. A critical requirement that was identified is the option to expand the database at a later stage to include additional parameters or data types, such as water level, discharge or data from automated sensor stations. Another requirement was a smooth connection with GIS software for the development of data products for outreach.
The outcomes of this workshop will now provide the basis for the development of an open-source data management system by GEMS/Water.
Furthermore, the visit provided new data for GEMStat, which is now being processed and uploaded.
Group photo of NWRMA management with representatives of GEMS/Water and Earthwatch Europe
