Programme target group

Programme prerequisites

After successful completion of this module participants will be able to:

• make a critical analysis of the global and national agendas and policies for ‘Water and Environment’ in the context of sustainable development;
• identify and describe the major global, regional and local environmental problems;
• explain the concept of sustainable development.

The module will provide an introduction to the global agendas and policies for water and environment. Participants will be introduced to key documents in these fields (World Water Vision, Vision21, Earth Summit on Sustainable Development, WWF-3). The concept of IWRM will be explained and illustrated by examples. The ES programme will be introduced by giving a historical overview on changes in the environment and how the environment and human development interact. In key environmental problems relevant environmental issues will be assessed in discussion with the participants. The subject of sustainable development is introduced by involving the students in four major ongoing debates in the field: (1) ‘Limits to Growth’, about resource limits and its implications for development; (2) ‘Tragedy of the Commons’, about the unwise use of public resources; (3) ‘Spread of Pollutants’, about the impacts of wastes and options for closing nutrient cycles at different scales and about the three stages of pollution prevention and control; and (4) ‘Global Trade and the Environment’, about the positive and negative impacts of global trade. Group Dynamics will provide you with some tools and techniques for having in-depth debates.

Water, environment and sustainable developmentwill consist of lectures, exercises, workshops, video-conferencing sessions, and role play sessions. Key environmental problems are in the form of a group discussion. The sustainable developmentsubject is given in the form of introductory lectures by /debate between experts in four themes. Subsequently, there is an assignment per group of three: read a number of relevant papers in one theme, prepare brief review papers concluded with a number of recommendations for action. Finally, there is a presentation and debate among participants and experts. The case study eutrophication consists of laboratory activities.

Lecture notes, laboratory notes

• H.J. Lubberding, PhD, MSc
• J.J.A. van Bruggen, PhD, MSc
• Prof. J.H. O'Keeffe, PhD
• D.P.L. Rousseau, PhD, MSc