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Masterprogrammet i ekologisk hantering av avrinningsområden i Europa, 120 hp

Om programmet

Ecological Management of Catchments in Europe (Ecocatch) The European master ”Ecocatch” will prepare you to serve as future manager of water resources as well as of other natural resources within the European community. The catchment, an area that is drained by a river, has become the basic unit for planning of a future sustainable society since the Water Framework Directive (WFD) has been adopted by EU. The WFD aims at making all water bodies of good qualitative and quantitative status and to protect and use the water resources in an ecological and sustainable way. Hence, there is an urgent need for professionals handling the implementation of the WFD. The education will give the students a broad competence in ecological management of catchments due to the possibilities to study courses at Umeå university and the other six universities participating in the programme. The other universities are, Uppsala university, Sweden, Université Catholique de l’Ouest, France, Vrije Universiteit, Holland, Universidade do Porto, Portugal, Universidade Católica Portuegesa, Portugal and Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iasi, Romania. The Ecocatch programme will make you acquainted with the ideas of the directive and familiar with the various environmental conditions prevailing in different parts of Europe. Most uniquely, you will learn to integrate the effects of all different ecosystems that the water passes through on the way from the source to the sea. You collaborate with students from different European countries, learning from each other and enjoying studying together. Student exchange can be performed during all parts of the Ecocatch programme, and should be included to a minimum extent of 30 ECTS for each student.

Så läser du

The Ecocatch Master’s programme includes examples of applied as well as basic research. The structure of the programme is as follows:

YEAR 1 Introduction course, all participating teachers and students gather (2 weeks) (5 ECTS) Core contents, given at each university, including catchment ecology, WFD, modelling, GIS. “Specialised” courses, different subjects given at the different universities. (40 ECTS) Project, individual or performed in groups. (15 ECTS)

YEAR 2 Thesis. The thesis may be preceded or mixed with shorter specialised courses. (60 ECTS)

The introductory course is a field based course and it will alternate in rotations across the universities involved, bringing together all students and teaching staff at one location. The course teaches you the basics of the ecological management of catchments, using our own textbook developed for that purpose. Subjects include: introduction to the catchment continuum concept, catchment definitions, the hydrological cycle, fluxes of energy and matter in catchments, water resource management in different European countries, research interests at the different universities, introduction to the selected catchments in the different partner countries and potential thesis topics in individual catchments. The core content is taught at each university and provides you with the essential background knowledge needed for the remainder of your Master’s programme. The timing of the core content across universities had been coordinated to enable exchange and joint projects. Subjects include: 1. Catchment ecology (terrestrial, aquatic and estuarine ecology, including basic modelling) (8 ECTS) 2. Water framework directive (2 ECTS) 3. Geographical information systems, GIS (6 ECTS) 4. Experimental design (4 ECTS) Each university has its own particular expertise, so you can specialise in any topic within the ecological management of catchments, depending on your own interests. Together we cover a wide range of topics within terrestrial and aquatic (freshwater/estuarine/marine) ecology and ecotoxicology. The Ecocatch programme has a large database of catchment information from all the universities involved. You will work simultaneously as a student group or individually on a common topic through this database. The database is on a common server and implemented in an e-learning environment to optimise cooperation between students The thesis research can be undertaken in a university research lab or in cooperation with a non-university organisation (e.g. private companies, state/community authorities). If it is done at non-university organisations, the primary supervisor will still be a faculty member of a partner university and the quality of the work will be closely supervised. The final outcome of your study will be governed by the approach of your final thesis project.

Det här kan du jobba med

The different institutions, participating in this European master programme, are specialised on different aspects of the ecological management of catchments. Using these specialities, a multidisciplinary approach is offered to give you a holistic perspective and understanding of systems ecology. This prepares you to serve as a future manager of water resources as well as of other natural resources within the European community. The master is of course also a basis for PhD research in Sweden or in other countries, and you have possibilities to perform your final Master thesis within research groups at any of the participating universities.

Läs mer om anmälan och behörighet

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2013-01-28