Study programme

Water Management for Climate Adaptation is a two-year, English-taught master’s programme with a total of 120 ECTS credits. Through completing natural and social science courses, electives, fieldwork, and your thesis you will become the water and climate expert of the future!

Programme Objectives

You will learn how to develop and implement effective climate adaptation solutions through water management. Throughout the programme, you follow guest lectures and gather information to learn what issues societal stakeholders deal with and develop a shared vision. As a successful climate adaptation and water management expert you can address questions such as:

  • How does climate change affect risks like flooding, salination, and drought?
  • How do water management and climate influence each other?
  • How can we use natural processes to support climate adaptation (nature-based solutions)?
  • How can nature-based solutions complement traditional engineering methods, and vice versa?
  • How can we implement these solutions considering legal and governance structures?
  • How does climate adaptation link to other areas, like the energy transition, spatial planning, food security, and biodiversity?
  • How do we address future climate uncertainties when creating adaptation and mitigation strategies?
  • How can we improve societal decision-making to implement these solutions, e.g. through legal and governance structures?

Curriculum

The first year is devoted to basic knowledge and skills, which you acquire through courses, culminating in a living lab held at the Delta Climate Center in the Southwest Delta Region (Zeeland, NL). In the second year, you may further explore the field through elective courses and are required to complete your master's thesis, possibly combined with an internship in the water sector.

Electives

Within the renewed curriculum there is more room for individual preferences. So to put your own spin on the master, you follow 15 EC of elective courses. What does this mean and which electives should you choose?

Students choose WMFCA because they want to tackle real-world water challenges - from managing floods and droughts to ensuring water security for future generations. This requires professionals who bring research-based knowledge directly into practice and bridge the gap between water science and real-world decision-making: between water management and society, as well as science and practice. There is no single best way to become such a professional. Instead, you get the opportunity to shape your own direction by combining electives that reflect your interests, strengths, and ambitions.

We encourage you to shape your professional profile: what do you want to become?

For example, you might be into:

  • Modeling climate and water systems. If so, dive into courses on hydrology, statistics, and GIS to understand how water moves through landscapes (e.g., Land Surface Hydrology, Statistics and Data Analysis in Physical Geography or Advanced GIS for Geoscientists).
  • Designing nature-based and engineering solutions. If so, explore how to develop sustainable interventions that work with natural systems through courses like Nature-Positive Futures, Environmental Ethics and Sustainable Development, Squaring the Circular Economy or Sustainable Food Systems.
  • Connecting science to policy and decision-making. If so, learn how research translates into real-world governance and change through courses like Environmental Ethics, Policy and Institutional Change, Theories of Change in Action or Imagining the Future for Transformation.

Whichever direction you choose, your elective pathway builds a coherent professional profile that prepares you to make an impact on the water challenges of tomorrow.

Educational Methods

  • Lectures and seminars
  • Living lab
  • Master’s thesis

Examinations

  • Final research papers
  • Short papers or written exams
  • In-class presentations
  • Active participation and concluding reports
  • Thesis

Master’s thesis

For your master’s thesis, you'll work on an individual research project. This can be done as an internship, giving you insight into real-world challenges faced by water managers. You’ll read relevant literature, develop research questions, plan and conduct your research, and present your findings in a thesis and oral presentation.