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WRM60309 Sustainable Land and Water Management | Period 6

In this course, students of different nationalities and disciplinary backgrounds work in small groups of 5 to 6 students on land or water management issues in the Netherlands and the rest of the world. Real life cases are identified with local and regional land and water management organisations and research institutions who act as commissioners for the cases.

Organised by Water Resources Management

About the course

The course consists of three phases:

  • Phase 1: In small groups, students develop a project proposal which will serve as guide for the execution of the consultancy project.
  • Phase 2: The next three weeks are spent on data collection, analysis and design of interventions.
  • Phase 3: Students will analyse the data, prepare preliminary findings, incorporate feedback from supervisors and the commissioner, write a concise report, and give a presentation or deliver any other product agreed on with the commissioner.

During the whole process the students are coached on personal development, intercultural communication and team roles.

This course is the final course of the first year of the MSc study International Land and Water Management, in which the analytical skills and methods as well as the theoretical concepts learned in earlier courses are further elaborated upon, integrated and applied in practice. Furthermore, students are trained in project management, teamwork and reflexive learning and design.

In ‘normal years’, this course involves an extensive field work period in Spain. However, this year all activities will take place in a blended format in the Netherlands: different online interactions (for example lectures, workshops and meetings) are alternated with on-campus group work and field work in different places in the Netherlands.

This year’s projects include a large variety of exciting assignments that range from analysing options for climate-resistant water systems in the area of the Aa and Maas waterboard, to exploring opportunities for CO2 sequestration in vital soils for Arcadis B.V. and developing a plan to assess the effectivity of the Dutch support program for climate resilient measures in soil and water management in the agrarian sector for LTO (Dutch Farmers Organization). Many interesting results, challenges and insights can be expected!