What Mostafizur says about the Master's in Water Resources Engineering

Mostafizur from Bangladesh – Alumnus of the programme

What year did you graduate?

"I graduated the MSc in Water Resources Engineering Programme from Lund University in 2019."

What is your current job and where is it located?

"Currently, I am working as a Deputy Project Director for the Emergency Assistance Project for Water Supply and Sanitation for Rohingya Refugees. It is a project within the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) for the Government of Bangladesh. The project is funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB)."

What is your favourite thing about your job?

"The most interesting part of my job is that it is completely related to ensuring safe drinking water, improved sanitation and waste management. It is both for the people of formal and informal settlements of Bangladesh and relates both directly and indirectly to all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Humanitarian Engineering."

How are you changing the industry or the world (in a large or small way)?

"John F Kennedy, the 35th US President, in the early 1960s commented: "Anyone who can solve the problems of water, will be worthy of two Nobel prizes: one for peace and one for sciences". The present-day reality reinforces that statement. There are still 2.2 billion people without access to safe drinking water and 4.2 billion who don't have a safe place to go to the toilet. Basically, life on earth – its economic and social development, its ecosystem and environmental sustainability – are all entirely reliant on the integrated management of water and waste management. Clearly, my job responsibility depicts the whole issue of sound practices regarding sanitation and drinking water from the point of view of both the environment and health by emphasising the principle of SDGs –“leaving no one behind”. Furthermore, I am learning to figure out the nexus among water and economic sectors addressing climate change, governance systems, management approaches, infrastructure and financing mechanisms to establish a sustainable circular economy."

What was especially useful about the programme that you use in your everyday work?

"My everyday work is related to planning and implementation of the water and sanitation projects both for formal (host community) and informal (refugee) settlements facing lots of challenges. Water is very much a crisis in the coastal district like Cox’s Bazar (my present working place) due to salinity intrusion in the groundwater. Therefore, we need to think about integrated water resources management (IWRM) considering both surface and groundwater as well as rainwater harvesting to ensure safe water. We also have to consider climate change's impact. Therefore, the courses I took as part of the programme such as Groundwater Engineering, IWRM, Urban Storm Water Management Water Society and Climate Change are very useful for me to use in my everyday work."

What do you miss most from your time at LTH?

"There are several things that I miss from LTH, but the vital one is the group study period with the classmates from different countries. I worked with classmates from Germany, Sweden, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Japan etc. I learned a lot from them, such as: how to analyse the crisis with different approaches and methods, writing reports, finding prosperous solutions, presenting the findings etc. Besides the studies, I enjoyed the nature of Lund, especially the snowfall and the spring."

How international was your programme content?

"The contents of the Water Resources Engineering programme are mostly related to global issues such as: Integrated Water Resources Management, Transboundary Water Management, Climate Change Issues etc. Vitally, international students make this programme more effective by sharing experiences of their local context. Furthermore, there is ample freedom and opportunity to choose any related international issue as a degree project, which helps students’ global knowledge."

What was the focus of your degree project?

"My degree project mainly focused on humanitarian engineering, which included human rights issues (safe drinking water and improved sanitation) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Several factors like unplanned water and sanitation structures, extreme climate events, lack of coordination and unavailability of funds are inflaming the humanitarian crisis and creating severe health problems to the vulnerable people of the formal and informal settlements. Hence, my degree project tried to find out the synergies mechanism within government and humanitarian communities like UN agencies and NGOs to solve the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) crisis. However, more studies and research concerning improving the synergies efficiency, capacity building, quick but effective WASH solution and discovering short and long-term challenges with effective and efficient measures, are desperately needed which is why it is important for more students to study the programme."

Why do you think prospective students should choose the Water Resources Engineering programme?

"Importantly and constructively, the Water Resources Engineering programme at Lund University covers all the prospective areas of present-day water management issues considering climate change, transboundary and global perspectives. Students of different countries have the opportunities to share their respective country’s water crisis conditions and figure out the solutions as well. The teachers are extremely friendly and also knowledgeable to help discuss and iron out the water management issues. So, to my mind, this course is undoubtedly advantageous for student and professionals who want to build up their career in Water Resources Management."

Do you have any advice for prospective students coming to Lund?

"Lund is a calm and cool city. All the learning facilities you could ever need are available here. In addition, Lund University has a good global reputation with connections to respected universities of Asia, Europe and other parts of the world. There are lots of opportunities to take part actively in different seminars and symposiums related to International Water Week, environmental sustainability, climate change impact, water and waste management, cutting-edge technology and so many other important topics. In addition, one can easily engage in different social activities with different humanitarian groups.  So, prospective students should take the advantage to explore all the avenues of learning and ways to contribute to society."