Water and Coastal Management

The Universities of Groningen (NL) and Oldenburg (DE) have joined to launch and offer a Double-Degree-Program, teaching future executives and specialists on water and coastal management. After two years of successful studying WCM, the first year in Oldenburg, the second year in Groningen, you will be awarded two Master Degrees, one from each university. You will be a fully-fledged manager of the environmental resources of water and coastal areas.

Curriculum: Steps to WCM-Master

Our MSc in Water and Coastal Management WCM is unique and innovative. WCM is using a newly created, tailor made curriculum of effective modules from a wide range of realms. Selected experts from both universities teach the modules in environmental, socio-economic, and spatial sciences.
The curriculum of MSc WCM is divided in four phases.

1. Introduction: get together

The introduction phase: learners and teachers team up;

• Up to 25 students from abroad, more than a dozen lecturers, your mentors and your fellow students,
• A wide range of disciplinary areas, topics, and contents, form the course,
• Innovative methods become effective: how to learn with and from each other.

After the introduction phase we are a team.

2. Initial-phase: scientific essentials

The initial-phase introduces you to the scientific essentials of water and coastal management:

• We teach you the basics of the environmental-science of water and coast,
• We teach you essentials about socio-economics of sustainability and resource management,
• And we find out your interests and focal points.

After the initial phase you will be able to:

• Emphasize the scientific background of environmental questions and handle methods to deal with them,
• Understand the socio-economical background of sustainability and resource management and to deal with its techniques,
• Work scientifically on a chosen topic.

3. Specialisation: deeper knowledge

During specialisation, spatial science deepens our knowledge about water and coastal management:

• We teach you how to manage resources, processes, and infrastructures
• We teach you international planning practice
• You learn about planning theory and research

After the specialisation you will have the skills to

• Professionally manage ambitious planning projects
• perform motivated environmental and infrastructure planning
• Develop your individual thesis-theme self-contained

4. Master thesis: the final frontier

The final phase focuses on the master thesis.

After graduating with a double degree you have developed the skills to independently pursue a line of research and to assess and analyse new problems in a scientific way.

Modules

There are Many Things to Be Trained:

The MSc WCM consists of a wide range of modules.
Three practice-oriented Case Studies (each of 6 ECTS) will flank your whole studies. They keep students and staff in contact: you will share your competences and personal knowledge with all the fellow students of your course, and we will put over our professional skills and experiences.
Depending on your personal of priorities you can opt for five to seven modules (all together 24 ECTS) of the initial-phase. For further information see Curriculum or Portfolio of modules.

Environment (ENV)

Choose from Environmental-Scientific essentials like
  environmental science,
  ecology and ecosystems,
  processes in environmental systems,
  environmental system water,
  environmental information systems.

Socio-economic system (SES)

Or select from Socio-economic fundamentals like
  environmental economics and environmental politics,
  resource and energy economics,
  international sustainability management,
  corporate social responsibility,
  environmental and sustainability politics and
  tools of sustainability management.

Specialisation (SPEC)

During specialization you opt consistent with your personal setting for four to five modules (all together 24 ECTS):
  water and integrated water and coastal management,
  process and project management,
  international planning practice,
  infrastructure planning practice,
  infrastructure planning,
  planning theory and
  planning research.

Finally, you will top your studies with a master thesis that demonstrates your accrued competences.