You will learn to plan, design, operate and maintain land and water resources and water-related infrastructure, emphasising on the modernisation of irrigation, drainage and flood protection schemes, and land use for agriculture.

Starts: Annually in October
Duration: 18 Months
Location: UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands

Prospective Students

The land and water development engineer is concerned with the development, adaptation and management of land and water resources for the different types of land use, with a focus on agricultural purposes. The typical student has a BSc degree in agricultural or civil engineering with a hydraulic background, and has worked in professional practice or in a university or research environment in irrigation, drainage or land and water development for at least three years. The participant is eager to acquire practical skills and knowledge to solve engineering, and water management or flood protection problems. Computer literacy is a valuable asset. Future careers may be in government services, consultancy, or education and research institutes.

Learning Objectives

Graduates who have successfully undertaken this specialisation will be equipped to:

  • Define the level of service that client groups may expect from irrigation, drainage or flood protection systems and translate them into physical infrastructure, management activities, and organisational arrangements;
  • Advise developers, system managers and water users on the operation and maintenance of irrigation, drainage and flood protection systems;
  • Understand the economic, social and environmental aspects of land and water development concepts;
  • Make a development plan for an irrigation and drainage system, covering design, water management, and operation and maintenance;
  • Monitor and evaluate the technical, managerial and institutional performance of irrigation and drainage systems;
  • Use state-of-the-art knowledge to evaluate the application of modern irrigation and drainage methods;
  • Provide alternative technologies to develop land use, with a focus on rural areas;
  • Assess the technical, socioeconomic and environmental feasibility of land and water development and management plans to support sustainable development;
  • Provide for different levels of service and associated cost and benefits for a range of short, medium and long-term land and water development and management planning horizons;
  • Use objective criteria for decision making on maintenance, replacement or modernisation.
Application procedure

Please click here for the application procedure for the UNESCO-IHE MSc programmes.

Programme Structure & Contents

This specialisation consists of 14 modules covering a total of 12 months, this is followed by a 6-month research and thesis phase. Graduates of the programme will be awarded 106 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) credits.