Environmental Planning & Management

Start next run: October 2010
Duration: 18 Months
Location: UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands

Participant Profile

The specialisation is intended for mid-career professionals with an interest in environmental sciences and in maintaining environmental integrity in relation to human development.

Learning Objectives

After successfully completing this specialisation, graduates will be able to:

• Use scientific data and results as a basis for policymaking.
• Analyse the complex and dynamic interactions between humans and their environment.
• Understand the role of governmental policy (at municipal, provincial, national, regional and global levels) in order to achieve sustainable development.
• Apply professional techniques and procedures for environmental planning.
• Apply principles of environmental policymaking, environmental legislation and institutional arrangements.
• Contribute to the development of environmental policy plans at various levels (company, municipality, national and international).

Course Contents

In total, the Environmental Planning and Management specialisation consists of twelve modules.

It starts with four basic modules which all participants within the Environmental Science MSc programme are required to take.

Within the specialisation phase, modules deal with various aspects of environmental planning and management. These are:

• Environmental Systems Analysis focuses on the relevant social and natural processes, and the interactions between them.
• Environmental Policy Making enables participants to understand the actual processes of policy making and the policy instruments that can be used.
• Planning includes problem analysis, setting targets, the design of alternative measures and strategies, policy assessment and evaluation.
• River Basin and Watershed Management addresses typical environmental problems at the level of the watershed or river basin.
• Aquatic Ecosystems deals with environmental problems related to the use of and impacts on freshwater ecosystems.
• Water and Environmental Law and Institutions addresses environmental legislation and institutional arrangements in environmental policy making.

The list below shows all course modules of the specialisation within the framework of the International Master Programme in Environmental Science. This is followed by a six month research and thesis phase. In total, the programme covers a period of 18 months and graduates will be awarded 106 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) credits.