Water is fundamental for the economy and quality of life in every country of the world. However, this renewable resource in some regions is increasingly threatened by human activities (e.g., pollution, overexploitation) [
1,
2]. Such threats are exacerbated by climate change and land use changes, i.e., agricultural frontier expansion and water used to feed growing populations and satisfy other urban needs [
3,
4]. Balancing these various needs for water resources under the uncertainty of climatic changes creates a wicked problem for the future. The solution to these issues will require connecting water management to our best scientific understanding [
5].
The nature of this problem can be seen across the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region [
6]. According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in 2014 [
7], Latin America is expected to experience significant climate-driven impacts on social, economic, and environmental realms [
8,
9]. There is a clear warming trend anticipated in this region over the next century. The LAC region’s current projections indicate more or less the same amount of rain in the future, yet changes in the seasonal distribution of that rain, which will cause longer periods of drought and increased flooding severity [
10]. Moreover, the hydrological cycle in the LAC region is influenced by complex meteorological phenomena such as “El Niño” and “La Niña”, which produce extensive damage with regard to the local-to-global economy [
10] and bring about significant human losses in the affected countries [
11]. How we manage water resources across the LAC region is rapidly evolving (as is true across much of the world). Considering Ecuador, for example, several hydroelectric power stations have recently started to function and more are under construction in an attempt to secure and diversify energy sources [
12]. For Ecuador, the government has set policies to reduce the consumption of conventional fossil energy and the 2008 constitution explicitly stated that the government would promote the use of hydropower energy to meet the growing energy demand for the coming 40 years [
13]. Under the support of the National Electrification Master Plan 2013–2022, a major boost of hydropower generation has been triggered, which will help Ecuador target one of the cleanest energy mixes in the world [
13]. As of 2017, 117 hydropower dams in Ecuador were mentioned in the literature, with 40 dams already finished and in service (i.e., about 60% of total power generation) [
14]. Furthermore, 10 dams are currently under construction and another 67 dams have been proposed by the local government [
15,
16]. On the contrary from the other end of the LAC spectrum, Cuba’s installed hydropower capacity and other renewable energy sources constituted just 1% of the country’s total power generation [
17]. Regardless, without adequate controls and regulations on environmental flow allowance from hydropower dams, strong impacts on the river functioning and ecosystem recovery capacity can be expected. Looking to wastewater, contamination due to the lack of control of industrial and agricultural activities and lack of water treatment plants prior to river disposal further aggravates water-related problems. In Cuba, some basic legislation and regulation for wastewater treatment does exist while in other Caribbean countries (i.e., the Bahamas, Grenada, and Haiti) such regulations do not exist [
18].
Clearly, there is a need for innovation in water resource management across the LAC region. These innovations should be accessible online and developed to aid in everyday activities. Yet how can we connect regulatory agencies and managers in LAC with global innovations? Despite the recognition of water across Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) [
19] and across the LAC region [
20,
21,
22], innovative management concepts such as water conservation and protection, environmental flow definition and allocation, and securing of good ecosystem functioning are rarely considered (let alone planned for) in legal regulations and decision making. This leaves local populations vulnerable to future shifts in climate at global scales and changes in land usage at regional scales. Even more significantly, when we look to future generations of water managers, these integral aspects of water resources are rarely included in our curricula for higher education around water management [
23]. We must therefore focus on boosting academic curricula in the field of water resources management to include up-to-date scientific and technological knowledge aimed at increasing the local skills and expertise of young professionals [
23].
Therefore, it seems that education can help secure inclusive and resilient development around water resources. However, it is difficult to inform those managing water resources with the latest science [
24]. In this study, we propose using students as central agents for dissemination and promotion of scientific knowledge into practice to address this difficulty. The focus of the study is on the LAC region due to its global importance and relevance. With about 34% of the world’s annual renewable freshwater resources and one of the largest volumes of freshwater resources per person (about 86,600 L per day), the LAC region has the potential to be an exemplar for global water resource management [
25]. Yet how does water resource education in the region stack up relative to other regions? The LAC is a good testbed for our hypothesis and a region ripe for innovation. In the present study, the LAC region is used to explore the existence of a potential gap in water management education. To achieve this goal, we conducted a bibliometric analysis for mapping out a potential gap in LAC water management education. We then draw upon experiences within the project Water Management and Climate Change in the Focus of International Master Programs (Watermas) funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union as a case study.